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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and its partners, yesterday, launched the Enhancing Access to Safe and Nutritious Diets in Abuja.
The partners include the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation; Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning; the Kebbi State Government; Kaduna State Government, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration and the National Food and Nutrition Media Team.
Speaking during the flag off, the Country Director of GAIN, Dr Michael Ojo, said the Enhancing Access to Safe and Nutritious Diets (ENSAND) Project is intended to improve the dietary quality of vulnerable children from Bottom of the Pyramid Households through the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) in Kaduna, Kebbi and FCT by improving the supply and consumption of eggs.
Ojo also said the five-year initiative is a core element of the GAIN country programme portfolio focused on supporting the supply and demand for nutritious food and ensuring healthier diets for all, especially the most vulnerable.
Ojo added that GAIN is aware that to improve the nutritional status of vulnerable children, alongside its partners, GAIN must work diligently, collaborate, and take a multi-sectorial approach.
“This is why, in the design of the ENSAND Project, GAIN emphasised the need to work with all the critical egg value chain actors including the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), the NHGSFP, our host state government, state-lead egg aggregators and other line ministries to achieve the objective of this Project.
“This Project is not merely about filling empty stomachs, it’s about fuelling the dreams and aspirations of our nation’s most vulnerable. This is not a mere promise, it is a dedication towards leaving no one behind and ensuring that even the most marginalised and underserved among us can thrive,” Ojo said.
Ojo also said the future of Nigeria is intricately linked to the well-being of every child, every family, and every community.
He added that the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme stands as a beacon of hope, illuminating the path toward a healthier and more prosperous future for our children.
“This is one of the reasons this project is mainstreamed into the NHGSFP to support children at their most critical and formative stage in life when such support is most desired. This is a moral imperative, a commitment to ensuring that no child goes to school hungry and no parent worries about their ability to provide a nutritious and safe meal to their children. Therefore, through this strategic collaboration, innovative solutions, and unwavering dedication, we are poised to make a difference that resonates far beyond the five-year lifespan of this Project.
“This will be achieved by supporting PAN/egg value chain actors, and the national and state school feeding programme teams to address the impediments impacting the adequate supply of quality eggs and motivating parents to complement the government effort by feeding their children eggs. We anticipate that this will result in a 30 percent increase in the number of children that consume eggs in the school feeding Programme across the three focal states,” Ojo stated.
In her remarks, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, said the Home-Grown School Meals has the potential through coordinated, multi-sectorial, and consolidated efforts and partnership, to significantly contribute to enhancing food and nutrition security in households and communities all over the country.
Edu also said the administration of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to restructuring the programme in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda towards ending poverty, reducing the number of out-of-school children and eliminating malnutrition in School Age Children.
“With a strengthened partnership with GAIN, which is focused on enhancing Nutrition Security through various strategies such as this laudable project (ENSAND), large-scale-food fortification, improving production capacities of local farmers and institutional capacity building, our goals and objectives can be achieved,” Edu said.
