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The cost of foods that supply average amounts of protein micronutrients required for a healthy life, like fish has surged drastically, trapping millions of children and pregnant mothers in the web of malnutrition.
Nigerians are facing a critical protein energy shortage despite significant spending on food security and nutrition programs. Analysts say that there seems to be a mismatch between efforts to boost nutritional food production and the reality of consumer access.
The cost of foods that supply average amounts of protein micronutrients required for a healthy life, like fish has surged drastically, trapping millions of children and pregnant mothers in the web of malnutrition. Yet, 55 percent of Nigeria’s public spending on food security and nutrition went into food consumption and health between 2018 and 2021, according to a new report on state food security in the world.
Nigeria also spent 45 percent of its food expenditure on tackling the major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition within the same period but the effort has had little influence on access to nutritional diets such as fish. The global assessment was a collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization.
Nutritionists and pediatricians are encountering higher than usual signs of malnourishment in patients who have the most need as weakened purchasing ability impacts their decision on nutrition.
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The creation of a breeding population of genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT) to boost fish yield without compromising the nutrition quality was one of the targeted interventions that the federal government implemented last year, under a five-year Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy, launched in 2022. The initiative saw high-yielding GIFT distributed to hatcheries and farmers, in attempt to diversify local aquaculture from catfish which accounts for more than 80 percent of local fish farming.
