Gombe State Government in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund, on Tuesday, launched the Nutrition Policy and Costed Multisectoral Food and Strategic Plan of Action to tackle malnutrition in the state.
PUNCH Healthwise reports that the policy is geared towards reducing the current rate of stunting from 52 per cent to about 18 per cent.
The policy is a five-year document meant to run from 2023 to 2027.
The Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Nigeria, Dr Tushar Rane, who was represented by Philomena Irene, Nutrition Specialist UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, disclosed that child mortality is attributable to malnutrition, stressing that good nutrition plays a leading role in averting deaths of children.
He said, “The Food and Nutrition Policy we are launching today will guide Gombe State, North east Nigeria, to address the hindrance to food and nutrition security from individual, household, community, local government to state levels. It steers the identification, design, and implementation of intervention activities across relevant sectors.
While commending the state for its investment in the policy, Rane noted that Gombe contributed N50m to combat waste.
