By Samuel Luka, Bauchi

Gombe state has been provided with 3,645 Cartons of Small Quantity Lipid Based Supplement worth N337,193,748.60‬ by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) to fight child malnutrition.

Dr. Tushar Rane, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Nigeria, Bauchi Field Office made this known at the Dissemination of Gombe State Nutrition Policy and Costed Multisectoral Food and Nutrition Strategic Plan of Action held at the International Hotel, Gombe on Tuesday.

He disclosed that children in Gombe State are experiencing chronic food poverty as about 30.7 percent of newborns are exclusively breastfed; only 22.5 percent of children aged 6 to 23 months receive a minimum acceptable diet and only 8.4% receive minimum dietary diversity.

According to the UNICEF, more than 50% of women and children are anemic based on the statistics available in the 2021 MICS.

Dr. Tushar Rane who was represented by Nutrition Specialist, Philomena Irene, said that, UNICEF had envisaged that the effective implementation of this policy can contribute to alleviating these nutrition gaps in the state.

“At UNICEF, we delightfully supported the development of this policy from the scratch. We have mobilized financial and technical support in terms of providing data on nutrition indices and support the costing of the policy”, Dr. Rane said.

He added that “UNICEF facilitated the engagement of external experts and its own technical experts, whose synergy with the state’s technical team ensured the birthing of this policy and costed multisectoral plan of action.”

The UNICEF Chief of Field Office added that, “we hope that it strengthens multisectoral nutrition governance and coordination at all levels while ensuring accountability.”

Dr Rane informed that, “UNICEF has procured 3,645 Cartons of Small Quantity Lipid Based Supplement worth the sum of N337,193,748.60‬ to enhance the diet of children 6 to 23 months”.

“This support has been made possible with thanks to the generous contribution of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).” He added.

Tushar Rane stressed that Nutrition is a multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary issue involving various sectors including health, agriculture, science and technology, education, Social Protection, Water and Sanitation thereby improving Economic Growth.

“The Food and Nutrition Policy we are launching today will guide Gombe State to address the hinderance to food and nutrition security from individual, household, community, local government to state levels”, Dr Rane further explained.

He said that the initiative steers the identification, design, and implementation of intervention activities across relevant sectors.

“The Costed Multisectoral Strategic Plan will promote diets, services and practices that support optimal nutrition, growth and development for all children, adolescents, and women.” He said

Tushar Rane pointed out that the strategic plan estimates that the interventions across the state would require a public investment of ₦11,169,423,741.16 with an average annual public investment cost estimated of ₦2,035,892,400.00 over the next four years (2023-2027).

He said “it is noteworthy and commendable that Gombe state contributed N50 million as counterpart contribution for the Child Nutrition Fund to address all forms of Malnutrition particularly Wasting, Anaemia and Stunting”.

According to him, “The Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) is a new financing mechanism designed to accelerate the scale-up of sustainable policies, programmes and supplies to end child wasting. The minimum contribution for the CNF is N100 million.”

He further noted that about half of child mortality is attributable to malnutrition, thus, good nutrition plays a leading role in averting deaths of children.

“Ensuring proper nutrition of children requires a life-cycle approach whereby adequate Nutrition commences from conception to newborn until the baby grows into an adolescent and then an adult.” Dr Rane informed.

He also stressed that,”The first 1000 days of life – between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s second birthday – is a unique period of opportunity when the foundations for optimum health and development across the lifespan are established.”

According to him, “The right nutrition and care during the 1000-day window influences not only whether the child will survive, but also his or her ability to grow, learn and rise out of poverty. As such, it contributes to society’s long-term health, stability, and prosperity.”

Tushar Rane assured that Investing in the early years is one of the smartest investments a state can make to break the cycle of poverty, address inequality, and boost productivity later in life.

He regretted that millions of young children are not reaching their full potential because of inadequate nutrition, hoping that the new policy will provide an overarching framework, covering the multiple dimensions of food and nutrition improvement, with the special focus on nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions.