Nigeria, US Organisation To Tackle Child Malnutrition

The federal government has initiated a partnership with a United States (US)-based organisation, Operation End Starvation, to combat hunger and child malnutrition in Nigeria.

The coordinating minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed this when he led a delegation of the organisation and other agencies under the ministry to meet with the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

The partnership aims to strengthen efforts to address acute child malnutrition, prevent deaths caused by starvation and improve nutritional outcomes across the country.

In a statement by the media aide of the first lady, Busola Kukoyi, Pate said Nigeria was committed to tackling malnutrition through existing government frameworks, adding that the recently launched National Community Food Bank

Programme, implemented in partnership with the Office of the First Lady, was already making a positive impact across the six geopolitical zones.

He noted that the government was working to reduce the country’s burden of acute child malnutrition, currently estimated at 6.4 million cases, while also addressing the nutritional needs of pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.

“A lot of good things are already happening in the country,” the minister said.

Speaking on the rationale behind the proposed partnership, the Chief Executive Officer of Operation End Starvation, Williams Holdsworth Moore, said the initiative was established to mobilise substantial funding towards preventing child deaths caused by starvation.

He explained that the programme, supported by a macro grant from the United States government and contributions from global philanthropists, seeks to channel more than $1 billion annually towards tackling child starvation.

Moore said the organisation was targeting investments of $1 billion over the next two years to combat starvation across sub-Saharan Africa, adding that Nigeria was being considered a primary country for the initiative.

“We want to move $1 billion to end starvation in the next two years across sub-Saharan Africa. The burden is high, but the capacity is also very high,” he said.

He added that the United States Department of State had approved Nigeria’s inclusion in the programme’s outlook.

According to him, the organisation was impressed by Nigeria’s commitment to tackling acute malnutrition and was seeking to work directly with the Federal Government to achieve measurable results.

“We have met with the Nigerian health team, and they are one of the best of many we have met,” Moore said.

Responding, the First Lady commended the country’s health professionals and public officials for their expertise, commitment and dedication to national development.

She said her experience working with Pate, other health officials and the Ministry of Education had reinforced her confidence in the capacity of Nigerian public servants to deliver results.

“Nigeria has the best team in the health sector presently,” she said.

Tinubu added that the level of competence and dedication extended beyond the health sector to other government institutions.

The First Lady said President Bola Tinubu was undertaking reforms to overhaul the country’s systems, expressing optimism that Nigeria was gradually moving towards the desired level of development.

“Nigeria deserves better, and there is nothing we give to her that is too much because if the system works, it will ultimately come back to us,” she said.

She assured the visiting delegation that any assistance provided through the proposed partnership would be put to effective use by the country’s health team.

“I assure you that whatever aid you give us, this health team would put it to good use,” she added.

Operation End Starvation, an initiative of the Eleanor Crook Foundation, is a public-private partnership nonprofit focused on ending child malnutrition and deaths caused by starvation across sub-Saharan Africa.

Nigeria is expected to serve as a primary site for the initiative’s efforts to demonstrate the impact of large-scale investments delivered through direct partnerships with governments over the next two years.