By Abdulgafar Oladimeji.
Civil Society –Scalling Up Nutrition in Nigeria, CS-SUN has urged the Kano state government to embark on mass empowerment of rural women to eliminate the threat caused by malnutrition to the economic and social development of the state.
The chairman National Steering Committee, CS-SUN, Innocent Ekene, who visited Kano state ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, on Monday appealed to the ministry to fashion out specific budget lines for nutrition.
Ekene devry that Kano is under the threat of a mass number of stunted children, stating that 37 percent of children in the state are suffering from stunting.
He stated that the menace of malnutrition is prevalent in Kano, in turn posing a threat to human development in Northern Nigeria and Nigeria at large, “Kano is not a small state, judging by the 2006 census Kano has the highest population in Nigeria, it is worrying that 37 percent of this population, who are children are malnourished, this is a threat to all spheres of human development.
He appealed to the ministry to pursue the dedication of budget lines solely allotted to address the issues bordering on nutrition, he said: “not how much but to have a line solely dedicated to focus nutrition.”
Ekene further appealed for Women Affairs Officers that are designated to all the 44 local governments should be equipped with the tools to mobilize and fortify women residing in the local governments with the skills on the utilization of their local foods to fight malnutrition.
He also called for the sensitization of the Kano populace of the merits of indulging in exclusive breastfeeding.
The permanent secretary, Kano state ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Amina Aminu Kano averred that the ministry will work with stakeholders to confront and subdue malnutrition.
In her words “ we will work together to face the challenges, we will use the women development officers to continue to train the women on nutrition knowledge.
“we will design activities in line with budget lines and be assured of our commitment to these developments,” Amina noted.
