Substantial and sustainable reduction in malnutrition in Nigeria will remain a significant challenge without the effective engagement of the agricultural sector. With at least 5% of the global burden of undernutrition in Nigeria and more than 14 million malnourished children, the Government recognises that addressing malnutrition is indispensable for economic and social development. While nutrition-specific interventions – such as micronutrient supplementation, breastfeeding, immunisation, which address the immediate causes of malnutrition (inadequate dietary intake and diseases) – are necessary, they are not sufficient for achieving adequate nutrition. In fact, implementing the ten most effective nutrition-specific interventions at 90% coverage will only reduce stunting by 20%. Other interventions are therefore crucial for achieving additional reduction. In particular, nutrition-sensitive interventions in areas such as agriculture, social protection, and education are required.
Nutrition-sensitive interventions address the underlying causes of malnutrition including poverty, food insecurity, inadequate health services and caregiving, and poor sanitation and hygiene. These interventions are implemented at scale and can reach the poor who are most at risk of malnutrition; and can be used to increase the effectiveness and coverage of nutrition-specific interventions. The agricultural sector especially has a unique role to play because it is the source of food; it affects the incomes of the majority of the population; it influences food prices; and it nfluences women’s control over resources and the time they have available for optimal childcare and feeding practices.
Consequently, ongoing efforts to transform the agricultural sector in Nigeria especially prioritise improved food security and nutrition as a fundamental outcome. This Nigerian Agricultural Sector Food Security and Nutrition Strategy 2016 – 2025 (AFSNS) has been developed to guide the activities of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and the wider agricultural sector in Nigeria for improved nutrition. It is expected that the Strategy will ensure effective advocacy for mobilising necessary human, material, and financial resources; and encourage sustained commitment to agricultural development for improved nutrition.
The Strategy has eight interrelated priority areas:
- Enhance value chains for improved nutrition: Value chains can improve nutrition by increasing nutrient content, preventing the loss of nutrients, decreasing anti-nutrients, increasing ease of preparation, and/or improving food safety; while educating actors along the chain about the nutrition benefits of added value. This priority area links the nutrition problems of target populations with possible constraints in the supply and demand of specific foods that are then addressed by interventions, whilst also expanding market access.
- Diversify household food production and consumption, especially targeting women, and increase access to micronutrient-rich foods: Diversifying crop production of farming households can increase their access to nutritious foods and the stability of food supply. Increased access to fruits and vegetables is one of the most sustainable ways to reduce and prevent micronutrient deficiencies in resource-poor communities. The priority area focuses on increasing the production of fruits and vegetables, and research will be undertaken to increase their shelf life and marketing and distribution. This focus has implications for the reduction of both undernutrition and overweight and obesity and the incidence of diet-related non-communicable diseases. Targeting women will increase their control over resources and decision-making, with attendant benefits for nutrition.
- Improve food safety along the value chain: Unsafe foods reduce the quantity and quality of agricultural production, thereby reducing food availability and reducing food access for households whose incomes depend on their sale. Moreover, when contaminated food is eaten, the utilisation is poor and there is an increased risk of malnutrition and illness. This priority area focuses on actions that promote the safety of foods for consumption and eligibility for trade.
- Build resilience and social protection nets through food and nutrition systems for vulnerable groups: Households without resilience to shocks periodically lack access to food and do not have stability of food supply. Such households are also likely to deplete their assets, which further increases their vulnerability. This priority area aims to help households vulnerable to recurrent shocks to maintain their supply of nutritious foods so as to conserve their assets, increase resilience, improve nutrition and facilitate inclusive growth.
- Promote nutrition research and information systems: This priority area focuses on promoting and advancing a wide range of policy, operations, scientific, and adapted research that supports the maximisation of the potential of agriculture to influence and lead to positive nutrition outcomes.
- Improve the agricultural sector capacity to address food security and nutrition problems: Without appropriately skilled people who are part of a broader, goal-oriented institutional structure, policy statements and action plans to sharply reduce malnutrition will continue to be unfulfilled. Consequently, capacity building in managerial and technical ability, multi-stakeholder processes, mobilising strategic collaboration, partnerships and innovative financing; and focused training on linking agriculture with nutrition is a necessary component of the agricultural sector’s efforts to improve nutrition in Nigeria.
- Nutrition education, social marketing, behaviour change communication, and advocacy: The various nutrition-sensitive agriculture initiatives require concerted and consistent information dissemination and social dialogue, and provide a platform for nutrition education and behaviour change. This priority area will ensure successful and sustained nutrition education and behaviour change by combining educational and communication strategies delivered through multiple channels; and accompanied by environmental support designed to facilitate the voluntary adoption of healthy food choices and other food and nutrition-related behaviours conducive to health and well-being.
- Nutrition surveillance and monitoring and evaluation: A surveillance and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system will be necessary to provide accurate, reliable, and timely information on the progress of Strategy implementation. This priority area focuses on establishing an agriculture-based food and nutrition information system, including predefined indicators, to meet the data needs required for surveillance and M&E. The priority area further supports the creation of a database to keep accurate and relevant information, and the introduction of a feedback mechanism to enable sharing of data.
The Strategy especially targets women of childbearing age, children 6 – 59 months old, school-aged children, and internally displaced persons. The Strategy recognises that malnutrition is generally high in Nigeria across all the geopolitical zones but disproportionately higher in the North West and North-East zones. In the principle of leaving no one behind, the Strategy adopts a national approach in addressing the diverse challenges of malnutrition, in ways that prioritise high prevalence areas across the zones. Thus, the Strategy works towards virtual elimination of malnutrition in zones where considerable progress has been made, and significant reduction in zones where prevalence levels remain disproportionately high. It supports the implementation of actions and initiatives that recognise the interconnectedness of all zones from a food systems perspective, the diversity of the nutrition challenge, and how public and private sector stakeholders operate and are distributed across the various zones in Nigeria.
Pending the establishment of a full directorate of nutrition in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Federal Department of Agriculture through the Nutrition and Food Safety Division will be primarily accountable for the implementation of this Strategy. The inaugurated Interministerial Agriculture and Nutrition Working Group with its secretariat at the Nutrition and Food Safety Division will provide strategic influence, policy, and programmatic support for the implementation of this Strategy; to ensure consistency, coherence, and synergy with other sectoral and related policies and initiatives.
Source: The Federal Republic of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
