Health
Kaduna Targets Zero Malnutrition Through Grassroots Mobilisation
By Sani Idris Abdulrahman
The Kaduna State Government says it is targeting zero malnutrition through stronger grassroots mobilisation, community ownership and increased investment in nutrition interventions.
The Commissioner, Kaduna State Planning and Budget Commission, Mr Mukhtar Ahmed, stated this on Tuesday in Kaduna at a high-level stakeholders’ engagement on strengthening grassroots nutrition intervention with the wife of the state governor, Hajiya Hafsat Uba Sani.
Ahmed said nutrition was fundamentally about the future of Kaduna, as proper feeding and care influenced children’s survival, productivity and community development.
He said the state government had continued to strengthen nutrition through policy, planning, financing, service delivery and collaboration with development partners.
According to him, successful nutrition interventions ultimately depend on activities at the grassroots, where families make decisions about food, childcare and healthcare.
Ahmed urged the spouses of the local governments chairmen at the meeting to promote exclusive breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding, maternal nutrition and early identification of malnutrition.
The Kaduna State Head of Service, Mrs Jummai Bako, said the repeated engagements on nutrition demonstrated the importance attached to the issue by the Kaduna State Government.
Bako urged the spouses of LGA chairmen to involve women councillors’ wives in nutrition advocacy because of their proximity to communities.
“We want to have zero malnutrition in Kaduna State,” Bako said, urging women leaders to work together toward achieving the objective.
Mr Jessy David, Chairman, Kaduna State House of Assembly Committee on Food and Nutrition Security, said nutrition was fundamental to the growth and development of society.
David said the committee would continue to support legislation aimed at combating malnutrition and improving the wellbeing of women and children.
He urged participants to ensure nutrition interventions were taken from the state level to LGAs, wards and communities for effective grassroots participation.
Gloria Ibrahim, Commissioner for Youth Development, described nutrition as the foundation for developing a strong, vibrant and intellectually capable youth population.
Ibrahim said her ministry was ready to collaborate with stakeholders because proper nutrition would strengthen the physical and mental capacity of future generations.
The UNICEF Chief of Field Office in Kaduna, Dr Gerida Birukila, said UNICEF remained committed to supporting government efforts to provide equitable access to quality nutrition services.
Birukila, represented by Chinwe Ezeife, Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, said the meeting was important because engaging communities directly would help improve nutrition outcomes for children and women across Kaduna State.
Ramatu Haruna, Director of Nutrition Services, Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board, said the state had recorded progress in treating children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
Haruna said Kaduna treated about 42,000 severely malnourished children with Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food procured with support from the state government.
She said 24,836 children were enrolled for treatment in the first quarter of 2026, with 15,000 successfully cured, while 17,400 were enrolled in the second quarter.
According to her, 6,363 children were successfully cured in the second quarter, while the state currently has 8,655 cartons of therapeutic food in stock.
Haruna also called for greater attention to the nutritional needs of girls, noting that social preferences could sometimes result in boys receiving better food than girls.
Mrs Celestina Ayim, Coordinator of Civil Society Calling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) in Kaduna, said nutrition financing should go beyond money to include people, skills, commodities, equipment, information and partnerships.
Ayim urged the spouses of LGA chairmen to mobilise communities, connect LGAs with partners, amplify nutrition messages and monitor commitments and resource utilisation.
She said nutrition should be treated as an investment in human capital development rather than charity, stressing that every child had the right to survive, learn and thrive.
She also urged the women leaders to promote prevention through maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, growth monitoring, community mobilisation and behavioural change communication.
Shehu Yunusa, Chairman, Kaduna State House of Assembly Committee on Appropriation, pledged support for stronger nutrition financing in the 2027 state budget.
Yunusa said the committee would ensure that nutrition-related budget lines were adequately captured to enable implementing agencies to deliver required interventions.
He said a healthy state was a wealthy state, adding that the Assembly was committed to supporting resource mobilisation for improved nutrition outcomes in Kaduna.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the engagement brought together government officials, development partners, legislators, nutrition stakeholders to strengthen collective action on nutrition.
Highpoint of the event was the recognition and cash prizes to three outstanding spouses of LGA chairmen for supporting nutrition interventions in their respective areas.
The LGAs are Makarfi, Jaba and Soba.(NAN)
Edited by Yakubu Uba
