Nigeria’s National Council on Nutrition chaired by Vice-President Professor Yemi Osinbajo approved the National Multi-Sectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition 2021-2025 (NMPFAN) on Tuesday, 15 December 2020. NMPFAN is a five-year nutrition action plan that seeks to promote the implementation of programmes to tackle hunger and malnutrition as well as increase breastfeeding around Nigeria.
NMPFAN aims to reduce the proportion of people who suffer malnutrition by 50 per cent and increase exclusive breastfeeding rate to 65 per cent. It also aims to reduce stunting rate among under-five-year-olds to 18 per cent by 2025 through the scaling up of priority high impact nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions. NMPFAN recommends the adoption and implementation of strategies aimed at improving the nutritional status of Nigerians by tackling inter alia undernutrition and stunting.
In addition to Professor Osinbajo, other members of the National Council on Nutrition include the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, the Health Minister, the Minister of Water Resources, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, alongside Development Partners, Organised Private Sector and Civil Society Organisations.
Professor Osinbajo welcomes suggestions for crafting comprehensive nutrition advocacy programmes, pushed by relevant stakeholders, including government institutions, the private sector and civil society organisations.
Photo credit: Channels TV.
