NAN-AE-8
Women
By Chinwe Emeka-Abah
Enugu, Dec. 12, 2017 (NAN) No fewer than 3,000 women in Enugu State have been trained and inducted as `Smart Mothers’ on food fortification by an international organisation, Harvestplus Nigeria.
The women mostly farmers from the 17 local government areas of the state were inducted in Enugu on Tuesday at the launch of `Smart Mothers’ initiative of the organisation.
Harvestplus Nigeria is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as well as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Speaking at the event, Mrs Akunna Ubosi, Wife of the Enugu State House of Assembly Speaker, urged Nigerian women to promote good health through nutrition to avert prevalent and terminal illnesses.
Ubosi said that the initiative provided a platform for women as farmers, processors, and marketers of nutritious food products to lend their voices to nutrition.
She expressed confidence that the initiative would help women address malnutrition and hunger in the country.
“By feeding the family right, women can help promote good health and avert prevalent and terminal illnesses in the country,” Ubosi said.
The speaker’s wife commended the international organisation for training the women on how to fortify staple foods like cassava, maize and sweet potatoes.
“When women are empowered, we normally see improvement in children’s health, education, nutrition and welfare of family members,” she said.
Mr Anayo Agu, Special Adviser to the Enugu State Governor on Small and Medium Enterprises and Investments Promotion, commended HarvestPlus and its partners for advancing the cause of eradicating global hidden hunger.
Earlier, the Country Representative of Harvestplus Nigeria, Dr Paul Ilona, explained that women had primary roles to play in addressing malnutrition in Nigeria.
According to him, unless women are trained to make nutrition-sensitive decisions, malnutrition cannot be eradicated in the country.
“No smart mother will know the reason why children die and allow it. She will, instead, give her children the opportunity to grow to full capacity and contribute to improving her environment.
“Through this initiative, we want to see mothers spend less money on drugs because their food is richer and their families healthier,” he said.
Ilona also applauded government policy on supplementation and food fortification, noting that the bio-fortification agenda of the organisation, complemented the efforts of government and other development programmes.
“Having a multipronged approach in solving a single problem is the way to go, but we must ensure that all arms contribute optimally.
“The contribution of HarvestPlus makes it possible for common foods like cassava, maize, orange and sweet potato to become the channel for delivering the daily nutritional needs of people,” he said.
The country representative disclosed that at least 53 per cent of deaths in women and children worldwide resulted from malnutrition.
“In Nigeria, the situation is even more alarming as records show that malnutrition kills 100 children and at least six women of child bearing age every hour.
“In many cases, they die not only because they lack food, but also essential micronutrients,” Ilona said.
Some of the trained “smart mothers” told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they learnt a lot on nutrition during the seminar.
Mrs Indiana Nwokike, a farmer, said she learnt that cassava had over 200 by-products, including bread, cereals, flour, garri, fufu and livestock feeds and pledged to utilise the knowledge she acquired during the training. (NAN)
CEA/MNA/EMO
Edited by Maureen Atuonwu/Ejike Obeta