FG urged to fund nutrition to save children

NaijaAgroNet:

The Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria has been urged to commit adequate funds to address the growing menace of malnutrition, with experts and stakeholders saying the way to avert the danger is for the country to not just fund projects targeted at treating the millions of children stunted by malnutrition but commit to awareness campaigns to prevent the disease, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at a one-day symposium on 'malnutrition, child development and the media' organised by the Media Centre Against Child Malnutrition (MeCAM), Sunday Okoronkwo, a project manager at the Civil Society on Scaling Up Nutrition Nigeria (CS-SUNN), explained that the country currently does not have proper funding to address the problem, warning also that figures such as 11m Nigerian children being stunted may well be a poor representation of the reality.

Okoronkwo, who stood in for CS-SUNN project director, Mrs Beatrice Eluaka, at the event also attended by other top pro-nutrition civil society groups, including Community Health and Research Initiative (CHRI), Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network Nigeria and Global Alliance on Improved Nutrition (GAIN),  lamented that the country's $912m action plan on nutrition for the years 2014 through 2019 remains largely unfunded, with Nigeria’s $100m counterpart funding of the policy hardly making it into the annual budgets.

According to him, the country's 2017 budget has no provision for the plan which expires in 2019.

Speaking on ‘Dealing with nutritional Fads and Fallacies’, Dr. Aminu Garba, chairman of CHRI, called for declaration of emergency on malnutrition, called for sustained media engagement, among other steps, to address the many fallacies around the question of nutrition.

Garba outlined these to include cultural claims that giving newborns colostrum exposes them to witchcraft or that children and women should not eat meat or take adequate milk.

Remmy Nweke, the national coordinator of MeCAM Nigeria, said the organisation evolved from the unique need for the media to respond to the national emergency on malnutrition. He insisted that government’s funding to combat malnutrition is not “commensurate” to the volume and potential consequences of the unfolding crisis.

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5 Secrets about Ghana Jollof that Nigerians don't know

Commentary@NaijaAgroNet:

1. Ghana Jollof is made with love : Ghanaians prepare their jollof with ingredients and spices drawn from the streams of love and that reflects in the aroma and taste of our jollof,days after it is cooked.

2. Ghana Jollof is the "Aliko Dangote" of African foods : In as much as jollof originally originated from SenegalGambian empire of Jolof,Ghanaians took the prototype and built upon it to become what the world knows it. Ghana jollof is entrepreneurial.

3.Ghana jollof is scalable : The tricks of preparing different versions of Ghanaian jollof makes it easy to be prepared from any part of the world.Nigeria jollof is a one way method making it difficult to be prepared in regions like China,Russia,North Korea,London,etc. 

4. Ghana Jollof is a balanced diet recommended to fight child malnutrition across the continent. Nigerians must come to Ghana to learn how we are using Jollof to overcome hunger and malnutrition.Former President Rawlings donated jollof to our Somalian brothers.

5.Ghana Jollof is celebrated as festival : Ghana Tourism Authority celebrates a National jollof festival because our jollof has balls.Ghana jollof is eaten with confidence across the globe due to it's high nutritional content. You don't have leftover for our jollof.Ghana jollof is bae
#jollofbattle #ghanajollof #nigeriansmustknowthetruth#Ghanajollofcanhealtheirpresident 

Contributed by: Chef Elijah A. Addo,2017 Queens Young Leader and founder of Food for All Africa in recognition of the Ghana Jollof Festival scheduled for 26th August, 2017 is being organised to promote Ghanaian cuisine, and is in connection with the “See Ghana, Eat Ghana, Wear Ghana, Feel Ghana campaign initiated by the Ghana Tourism Authority.

Twitter : @professoraddo

Instagram : @chefelijah.addo

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2017 Nutrition Symposium: 13% Nigerians risk mental deformation

NaijaAgroNet:

Estimated 13 per cent of Nigerian children risk growing up with mental deformity unless proper iodine is part of their nutrition, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Professor emeritus, Babatunde Oguntona, who gave this indication in Lagos at a one-day Nutrition Symposium on ‘Malnutrition,  Child Development and the Media’ organised by the Media Centre Against Child Malnutrition (MeCAM).

He also called on government to pay greater attention to public health.

“If we don't keep iodine level properly, we'll have 13% of Nigerian children mentally deformed,” Prof. Oguntona said.

Lamenting the situation, Prof. Oguntona imagineed that about 13 percent of parliamentarians are mentally deformed and wondered the kind of policies and legislation.

"Inadequate iodine in our food is a serious threat. You can't talk of development when you ignore the issue of nutrition status of your people,” he declared, rapping the Nigerian authorities for their poor response to the threats of malnutrition.

Oguntona, a former president of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, said between 13 and 18 Nigerian children die of malnutrition and related diseases every hour and called on the media to step up advocacy on the issue.

Ivy Ibiso KingHarry, an associate at the Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network | Global Alliance on Improved Nutrition (GAIN), said the media have a duty to promote messages on nutrition as influencers and change agents. 

She added however that such media efforts must flow from proper understanding of the science of nutrition and effective delivery of messages in language understood by common people.

She urged reporters to always fact-check and scrutinize official data on malnutrition, be consistent and build trust in their duty as gatekeepers.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Prof Oguntona leads speakers @MeCAM Nutrition Symposium’17

NaijaAgroNet:

Erudite scholar on nutrition, and former president, Prof. Babatunde Oguntona would this Friday led other experts to the one-day 2017 Nutrition Symposium  being organized by the Media Centre Against child Malnutrition (MeCAM)  in Lagos.

Top speakers to join Prof. Oguntona in dissecting the theme: "Malnutrition, child development and the media" on Friday, August 4 at Welcome Centre Hotels, would include the Project Director at the Civil Society on Scaling-Up Nutrition Nigeria (CS-SUNN) Mrs. Beatrice Eluaka and chairman, Community Health and Research Initiative (CHRI) board, Dr Aminu Magashi Garba.

Confirming this, the National Coordinator of Media Centre Against child Malnutrition (MeCAM), Mr. Remmy Nweke, said the Country Coordinator, and Scaling-up Nutrition Business Network (SBN) Nigeria, Uduak Igbeka and Head, Nutrition at the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Chris Isokpunwu.

He further said that Prof. Oguntona was a graduate of University of Ibadan with a degree on Agricultural Biochemistry and Nutrition in 1970 and holds in addition, M. Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Nutrition from the Universities of London and Nottingham respectively.

Oguntona, he said, was a pioneer professor at the University of Agriculture Abeokuta (UNAAB) in 1988, and has headed Department, Dean of College and Centre Director. In 2006 he was made Dean of Faculty of Agriculture and Rural Development (FAMARD) at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (Ayetoro Campus).

Prof. Oguntona has trained hundreds of students at both undergraduate and post graduate levels over the past 36 years. He season author of both national and international, including co-authoring of the report on National Food Consumption and Nutritional Status, and the principal author of Nigerian Food Composition Table.

A Nutrition consultant to the Federal Ministry of Health for 22 years, Prof. Oguntona and has consulted for several governments  including Ghana, Liberia, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Zambia as well as for some International Agencies, among other organizations.

A recipient of many distinguished International awards on Nutrition including BP Protein, Leverhulme Trust, ACU/Carnagie Corporation, to name a few, having been a Professor of Nutrition since 1990, he is a member of many professional and social organisations. He is the past president of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria and a fellow of that society. He is presently the Chair of Nigeria Beverage Panel and is married to Professor Clara Raquel Oguntona.

MeCAM, he said, is peopled exclusively by journalists, and mediapreneurs to push the narratives to save the Nigerian child from the danger of malnutrition through scaling up reporting and advocacy, among others.

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Breastfeed suffers lack of investment, babies, mothers in danger

NaijaAgroNet:

No country in the world fully meets recommended standards for breastfeeding, according to a new report by NaijaAgroNet.

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have disclosed that breast feeding in the recent past suffered lack of investment.

They also said that collaboration with the Global Breastfeeding Collective, a new initiative to increase global breastfeeding rates.

Just as they lauded the Global Breastfeeding Scorecard, which evaluated 194 nations, saying that it found that only 40 per cent of children younger than six months are breastfed exclusively (given nothing but breast milk) and only 23 countries have exclusive breastfeeding rates above 60 per cent.

Evidence shows that breastfeeding has cognitive and health benefits for both infants and their mothers. It is especially critical during the first six months of life, helping prevent diarrhoea and pneumonia, two major causes of death in infants. Mothers who breastfeed have a reduced risk of ovarian and breast cancer, two leading causes of death among women.

“Breastfeeding gives babies the best possible start in life,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. “Breastmilk works like a baby’s first vaccine, protecting infants from potentially deadly diseases and giving them all the nourishment they need to survive and thrive.”

The scorecard was released at the start of World Breastfeeding Week alongside a new analysis demonstrating that an annual investment of only US$4.70 per newborn is required to increase the global rate of exclusive breastfeeding among children under six months to 50 per cent by 2025.

They posited that Investment Case for Breastfeeding, could save the lives of 520,000 children under the age of five and potentially generate US$300 billion in economic gains over 10 years, as a result of reduced illness and health care costs and increased productivity.

“Breastfeeding is one of the most effective – and cost effective – investments nations can make in the health of their youngest members and the future health of their economies and societies,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “By failing to invest in breastfeeding, we are failing mothers and their babies – and paying a double price: in lost lives and in lost opportunity.”

The investment case shows that in five of the world’s largest emerging economies—China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Nigeria—the lack of investment in breastfeeding results in an estimated 236,000 child deaths per year and US$119 billion in economic losses.

Globally, investment in breastfeeding is far too low. Each year, governments in lower- and middle-income countries spend approximately US$250 million on breastfeeding programs; and donors provide only an additional US$85 million.

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MeCAM hosts Nutrition Symposium’17 @Welcome Centre

NaijaAgroNet:

The Media Centre Against child Malnutrition (MeCAM) has declared that all is set to host its first-ever Nutrition Symposium scheduled to hold in Lagos on Friday, August 4 at Welcome Centre Hotels, this year, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The National Coordinator of Media Centre Against child Malnutrition (MeCAM), Mr. Remmy Nweke, said the theme would focus on "Malnutrition, child development and the media."

This, he said is coming as MeCAM is partnering with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Scale-up Nutrition Business Network (SBN), to enhance information sharing as far as nutrition in the country.

He also said that the partnership would benefit child development and the role of media, in a developing economy like Nigeria and beckoned on other stakeholders to emulate GAIN by partnering with MeCAM in this auspicious event.

Equally, Nweke who is  the Group Executive Editor, DigitalSENSE Africa that at the forthcoming Nutrition Symposium by MeCAM, would see to the leadership of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Scale-up Nutrition Business Network (SBN) taking discussion on “Communicating Nutrition Messages to Stakeholders: Role of the Media.”

The GAIN and SBN team, he confirmed, would be led by Country Team Lead at GAIN and coordinator of SBN Nigeria, Uduak Igbeka, and would dwell on the sub-theme with expertise and dispatch, alongside other experts with vast experiences on the subject matter.

Further, he quoted the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as recently declaring that estimated 12.9 per cent of the Nigeria’s 190m population has been projected to be among some 5 million undernourished people in the world today.

Nweke revealed that MeCAM is resolute to use this symposium to not just draw public attention to the threat that malnutrition poses to the future of the country, but to also correct the impression that this menace is restricted to the poor.

He emphasized that UNICEF had estimated, at least 2.5m Nigerian children suffer from acute malnutrition (SAM), thus posing the danger of many of them being at risk of death unless properly treated and of course with right information.

This situation, he said, represents clear and is dangerous to the socioeconomic wellbeing of the entire country.

MeCAM, he said, is peopled exclusively by journalists, and mediapreneurs to push the narratives to save the Nigerian child from the danger of malnutrition through scaling up reporting and advocacy, among others. 

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MeCAM partners GAIN, SBN on Nutrition Symposium 2017

NaijaAgroNet:

A media-based non-governmental advocacy group, the Media Centre Against child Malnutrition (MeCAM) has disclosed its partnering with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Scale-up Nutrition Business Network (SBN), to boost information sharing on nutrition in Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.

A press statement endorsed by the Director, Outreach at MeCAM, Mrs. Julie Ekong and made available to NaijaAgroNet, said the partnership is sequel to the forthcoming MeCAM Nutrition Symposium scheduled to hold in Lagos on Friday, August 4, this year, with the theme "Malnutrition, child development and the media."

She quoted the National Coordinator of Media Centre Against child Malnutrition (MeCAM), Mr. Remmy Nweke, as saying, the partnership would go a long way in scaling up media participation in the crusade to better the lots of Nigerians on nutrition with the right and accurate information.

Specifically, he said that the partnership would benefit child development and the role of media, in a developing economy like Nigeria and beckoned on other stakeholders to emulate GAIN by partnering with MeCAM in this auspicious event.

Nweke, who doubles as the Group Executive Editor at DigitalSENSE Africa Media, also said that at the forthcoming Nutrition Symposium by MeCAM, would see to the leadership of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Scale-up Nutrition Business Network (SBN) taking discussion on “Communicating Nutrition Messages to Stakeholders: Role of the Media.”

The GAIN and SBN team, he confirmed, would be led by Country Team Lead at GAIN and coordinator of SBN Nigeria, Uduak Igbeka, and would dwell on the sub-theme with expertise and dispatch, alongside other experts with vast experiences on the subject matter.

Further, he quoted the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as recently declaring that estimated 12.9 per cent of the Nigeria’s 190m population has been projected to be among some 5 million undernourished people in the world today.

Nweke revealed that MeCAM is resolute to use this symposium to not just draw public attention to the threat that malnutrition poses to the future of the country, but to also correct the impression that this menace is restricted to the poor.

He emphasized that UNICEF had estimated, at least 2.5m Nigerian children suffer from acute malnutrition (SAM), thus posing the danger of many of them being at risk of death unless properly treated and of course with right information.

This situation, he said, represents clear and is dangerous to the socioeconomic wellbeing of the entire country.

MeCAM, he said, is peopled exclusively by journalists, and mediapreneurs to push the narratives to save the Nigerian child from the danger of malnutrition through scaling up reporting and advocacy, among others.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Osinbajo commissions $1.5bn fertilizer plant

NaijaAgroNet:

The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has commissioned $1.5 billion fertilizer plant in Nigeria city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The fertilizer plant, NaijaAgroNet gathered was built by Indorama Eleme Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited at the cost of $1.5 billion, with production capacity of 4000 metric tons (MT) of nitrogenous fertilizers per day or 1.5 MT per annum.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that the acting President used the opportunity to remind all Nigerians that time has come for them to grow whatever they eat and produce whatever they consume.

“What Indorama is accomplishing today is very much in line with President Buhari’s vision for a country that produces what it consumes and grows what it eats. If you had to sum up our vision for the Nigerian economy in a few words, these would suffice. Grow what we eat, produce what we consume,” he said.

Prof Osinbajo commended Indorama for keying into the Presidential Fertilizer initiative which President Buhari launched last year to make fertilizers cheaper nationwide.

“At the end of last year, the President launched a Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, to ensure the availability of cheaper fertilizer to our farmers, to support what we’re doing in agriculture, in the production of rice and wheat and other staples.

“That Fertilizer Initiative, now well underway, has created significant economic opportunities for companies like Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemicals Limited.

“I have been informed that Indorama will this year alone supply about 360,000 Metric Tons of Urea to Fertilizer blenders, which, in turn, will produce NPK fertilizer for the benefit of farmers across the country.

“This is the kind of economic progress we’re after, in which every unlocked opportunity proceeds to unlock several others, across multiple sectors of the economy.”

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GE, Miller Center launch second cohort healthymagination

NaijaAgroNet:

The General Electric (GE) and Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship has launched the second cohort of the healthymagination Mother and Child Programme in effort to accelerate health innovations in Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This programme, NaijaAgroNet reports selected 14 African social entrepreneurs who will benefit from training and mentorship aimed at improving maternal and/or child health outcomes.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that the healthymagination Mother and Child Programme would avail selected enterprises to receive training and mentorship aimed at improving and accelerating maternal and/or child health outcomes in Africa.

According to the Executive Director, healthymagination, Mr. Robert Wells, the winners emerged after a rigorous application and evaluation process, and accelerate maternal health outcomes across Africa with impact areas including, Benin, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and more.

The second cohort of entrepreneurs, he said, are currently attending a three-day, in-person workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The workshop, NaijaAgroNet gathered is packed with core business principles into a powerful forum facilitated by senior-level Miller Center mentors and GE business leaders.

Mr. Wells also said that the programme is designed to help the organizations acquire business fundamentals, improve their strategic thought processes, and articulate business plans that demonstrate impact, growth and long-term financial sustainability.

“Solving local health challenges calls for locally-adapted interventions and innovations, and Social Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa are playing a major role in this regard. The healthymagination Mother and Child programme will continue to provide them with mentorship and in-depth training, accelerating health innovation and furthering our goal to increase the quality, access and affordability of maternal and child health,” he said.

Executive Director of Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Dr. Thane Kreiner, said “GE’s mission to work on better health for more people is evidenced by our continuing partnership to help social enterprises scale their impact. This cohort’s impact aligns with the target indicators for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #3. Miller Center is honored such amazing social enterprises applied to this Mother & Child accelerator program.”

The kick-off workshop will be followed by a six-month, online accelerator programme with in-depth mentorship from Silicon Valley-based executives and local GE business leaders. The accelerator and mentorship programme will culminate in a “Premier Pitch” event in Africa where the 14 organizations will present their respective enterprises to an audience of potential investors.

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Ghana to host West Africa Agrofood

NaijaAgroNet:

The city of Accra, capital of Ghana, is warming up to host the 2017 West Africa Agrofood show billed for December this year, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The German trade fair specialists, FairTrade disclosed this to NaijaAgroNet, noting that the 4th edition of Agrofood & Plastprintpack West Africa slated for 05-07 December 2017 at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra, Ghana.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that producers of process and packaging technology obviously see great chances for business in Ghana and the surrounding West African countries, hence they are participating in this event.

Official national pavilions, NaijaAgroNet gathered, have been confirmed by Algeria, Belarus, France and the Netherlands, in addition to leading exhibitors from 10 countries.

According to VDMA German Food Processing and Packaging Association, Ghanaian imports of process and packaging technology increased by 10 per cent in 2016 to 77 million euro whereas West African imports of the same also went up by 10 per cent to 557 million euro.

Also, the association said, Ghanaian imports in the plastics, printing and packaging sector rose sharply last year, as Plastics technology up 4 per cent to 23.4 million euro; Printing and paper technology up 32 per cent to 22.4 million euro; and Packaging technology up 2 per cent to 30.1 million euro.

FairTrade told NaijaAgroNet they were not surprised that producers of process and packaging technology saw the opportunity in Ghana and its surrounding West African countries.

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