By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Federal Government has concluded plans to review the National Policy on Food and Nutrition as a result of emerging issues being experienced in the country.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning Dr.

Emeka Vitalis Obi confirmed this during a meeting with relevant Stakeholders drawn from the Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, Education, Health and Social Welfare, Innovation, Science and Technology, Water Resources, Women Affairs and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) in Abuja

Dr.

Obi noted that the current policy approved by the Federal Executive Council in April serves as a 10-year blueprint for ensuring food and nutrition security in Nigeria.

 He also posited that the National Policy on Food and Nutrition will deal with the multi-faceted problem of food and nutrition, using a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary programme approach.

 According to him, the programme to be derived from this policy is expected to reduce the prevalence of malnutrition by alleviating poverty through increased access to productive resources, increased incomes, and enhanced standards of living.

Obi reiterated that the Food and Nutrition Policy document is intended to serve as a framework to guide the identification and development of intervention programmes in addition to addressing the problems of food and nutrition across different sectors and different levels of the Nigerian society, from the individual, household and communities to and including the national level.

He also said that implementation of the policy would involve sectoral ministries, the private sector, individuals, families, communities, community-based organizations (CBOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the international agencies.

The permanent secretary therefore called on the Stakeholders to review the present document, the methodology, and the roadmap while noting that their contributions will assist in producing an improved document that will impact on Nigerians positively.

 He also noted that new opportunities would be explored for resource mobilization in preparation for the proposed Nutrition Investment Fund (NIF) to address malnutrition in the country.

The Country Director GAIN, Michael Ojo emphasized the strategic importance of partnerships in advancing the state of nutrition in Nigeria and thus reaffirmed GAIN’s commitment to supporting the ongoing process and expressed hope that at the end of the policy review, the nutrition challenges facing the nation will be addressed.

The Stakeholders stressed the need for the inclusion of emerging issues as the impact of Climate Change on Nutrition, Water and sanitation, poverty, economic empowerment of vulnerable groups, insecurity, and the N774 initiative amongst others.

The meeting was attended by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Kachallom Daju while other Ministries were represented by their various Directors.

According to a statement by Mrs Osagie Jacobs Julie, Director Information & P.R

on Thursday, the mandate of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning regarding the policy and its programmes are, include, to serve as the focal point for the coordination and harmonization of all food and nutrition-related policies and programmes being implemented by various ministries and agencies into a national programme consistent with the goals and aspirations outlined in the policy document.

Other mandates are to provide a forum for exchange of views and experiences among the bodies implementing nutrition programmes in Nigeria and to coordinate the review, on a continuous basis, of policies and programmes, with regard to their potential impact on food and nutrition issues.

The present policy document on Food and Nutrition was produced in 2016.