Kano State Government has reaffirmed it commitment to tackling malnutrition and enhancing child health by approving ₦637 million and releasing ₦500 million in counterpart funding under the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF).
This fund is a critical step toward scaling up sustainable financing, programmes, and supplies to combat malnutrition in the state.
In a statement, Sunday Okoronkwo, Executive Secretary of Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), disclosed that Kano State mirrors Nigeria’s national malnutrition challenges with 51.9 per cent of children stunted, 38.4 per cent underweight, and 10.4 per cent suffering from wasting, according to the 2023-24 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS).
These alarming figures represent lives affected by malnutrition and its related conditions that hinder growth, weaken immunity, and reduce productivity later in adulthood.
The CNF, designed to support countries with high rates of child malnutrition, matches government investments to accelerate the prevention, detection, and treatment of manifestations of malnutrition.
Through CNF- the state can increase its stock of essential nutrition commodities like Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF), Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS), Micronutrient Powder (MNP), Small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) and others required to treat, manage and prevent malnutrition by 100 per cent.
According to the statement, advocacy efforts by CS-SUNN in collaboration with partners like Alive & Thrive, UNICEF and others played a role in this achievement.
“Engaging key government officials, including the Kano State Head of Service, Commissioner for Health, Commissioner for information, Baba Halilu Dantiye, among others, emphasised the need for the state’s support in establishing nutrition departments across relevant MDAs,” the statement read.
It also noted that media roundtables amplified these efforts, increasing visibility and galvanising support for the approval and release of the CNF and other nutrition interventions.
