UNICEF boosts fight against malnutrition in Katsina with RUTF
From Agaju Madugba, Katsina
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday handed over seven thousand cartons of Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) to the Katsina State government.
RUTF is food Supplement specially designed for children under the age of five years who surfer from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).
The UNICEF initiative is under its Nutrition Match Fund where it provided N200 million and the Katsina government contributed the same amount for production of the RUTF.
Speaking at the ceremony, UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Ms Cristian Mundiate, described the RUTF as life-saving, noting that, “with this initiative, we hope to save as many lives as possible.”
She said her organization was committed to the fight against the scourge of malnutrion and pledged that UNICEF would provide additional funding for the project if government gives more financial allocation to the health sector and build more primary healthcare centre across the communities.
Receiving the supplements, Governor Umaru Dikko Radda acknowledged what he described as a high number of malnourished children in the state.
According to UNICEF, well over 240,000 children under the age of five years from across the 34 Local Government Areas of Katsina State currently suffer from SAM.
The figure is out of the population of about 11 million children in Nigeria experiencing the life-threatening condition due described as “food poverty.”
Globally, according to a 2024 UNICEF report, 181 million children under the age of five who consume, at most, two of eight defined food groups are considered in severe child food poverty and unable to sustain optimal growth and development in early childhood and beyond.
The report said that, “Nigeria ranks among the 20 countries that account for almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of the 181 million children living in severe child food poverty.”
