Spouses of LG Chairmen in Kaduna now ‘Smart Mother Initiative’ champions

An NGO, HarvestPlus Nigeria, has inducted spouses of the 23 LGA Chairmen in Kaduna State as community champions for ‘Smart Mother Initiative’.

This is part of efforts aimed at promoting consumption of biofortified foods aimed at scaling up nutrition in women, infant and young children

The induction was done at the last day of a two-day capacity building workshop for Nutrition Focal Persons (NFPs) on biofortified crops recipes for women, infant and young child nutrition complementary feeding.

The workshop, facilitated by HarvestPlus Nigeria, was organised in collaboration with the Kaduna State Planning and Budget Commission (PBC), where the state’s committee on food and nutrition is domiciled.

Speaking to newsmen at the sideline of the induction, the State’s Coordinator of HarvestPlus, Aminu Abubakar, said the Smart Mother Initiative was aimed at scaling up and creating awareness on biofortified crops.

He explained that leveraging on the roles of women as mothers in the home, they mostly make the decisions on what to eat and are equally the ones who take care of children in the house.

Abubakar, therefore, stressed the importance of biofortified crops which are enriched in vitamin ‘A’ maize, the ion and zinc millets and other biofortified crops in the nutrition of households and the society at large.

He explained that in order for HarvestPlus to achieve its aims of ensuring the consumption of biofortified crops, they were leveraging the LG committee on food and nutrition existing in the state which is chaired by Vice Chairmen of the LGAs.

Abubakar also explained that a steering committee which was carved out of the LG committee being chaired by spouses of the LGA Chairmen, is being leveraged by HarvestPlus to pass their message of creating awareness on biofortified crops and scaling up their utilisation.

Also, the Nutrition and Food Systems Manager for HarvestPlus, Mrs Kalejaiye Olatundun, said biofortified foods were naturally enhanced with micronutrients in order to address both nutrition and income generation.

She explained that the varieties of biofortified crops which were available for farmers in Kaduna are important because they are climate and nutrition smart.

Olatundun equally said the crops were important to processors, saying, ” because it will enhance the nutrition content of the foods and would increase dietary intake of vitamin ‘A’, ion and zinc.

“There is an experimental study that has shown that consuming these foods continuously and regularly as a staple can improve the nutritional status of children and women.”

Speaking on the Smart Mother Initiative, Olatundun described the spouses of the LGA Chairmen as those who can influence good nutrition in their respective communities by virtue of being women and mothers.

Earlier, the Director, Development Aid Coordination of the PBC, Hajiya Aisha Muhammad, said the workshop marked a significant step in the state’s collective journey towards combating malnutrition and hidden hunger in Nigeria.

Muhammad, who doubles as the acting Permanent Secretary of the PBC, lamented that malnutrition, especially among women and children, poses a formidable challenge to

communities in the state.

She said that in spite of the numerous efforts, deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals continued to affect the health and development of the people.

The Director, however, said biofortified crops presented a promising solution, adding that the crops were naturally enriched with vital nutrients and have the potential to transform the nutrition landscape in the state.

Muhammad explained that the workshop aimed to equip the NFPs and spouses of LGA Chairmen with the necessary knowledge and skills to champion the use of biofortified crops.

She stressed that through the dedication of the NFPs and spouses of LGA Chairmen, the cultivation and utilisation of the nutrients enriched crops in complementary feeding programs would be promoted.

This, she said, would ultimately improve the nutritional status of communities.

Speaking on behalf of the Smart Mother Initiative inductees, Mrs Lami Barde and Mrs Fatima Maiyere, the spouses of Jema’a and Makarfi LGAs Chairmen, pledged their commitment to the cause of the initiative.

They vowed to work tirelessly to promote the initiative in their respective LGAs, while lauding the effort by HarvestPlus to improve the health and nutrition of women and children in the state.

Supreme News reports that at the opening of the workshop, a practical demonstration on preparing children- friendly meals such that it could be introduced to them from six to eight months as part of complementary feeding, was carried out.