The Kaduna State Government says it is targeting zero malnutrition through stronger grassroots mobilisation, community ownership and increased investment in nutrition interventions.
Mukhtar Ahmed, Commissioner, Kaduna State Planning and Budget Commission, stated this on Tuesday in Kaduna at a high-level stakeholders’ engagement on strengthening grassroots nutrition interventions, organised in collaboration with the wife of the state governor, Hajiya Hafsat Uba Sani.
Ahmed said nutrition was fundamentally about the future of Kaduna, noting that proper feeding and care were critical to children’s survival, productivity and community development.
He said the state government had continued to strengthen nutrition through policy, planning, financing, service delivery and collaboration with development partners.
According to him, the success of nutrition interventions ultimately depended on activities at the grassroots, where families made decisions about food, childcare and healthcare.
Ahmed urged the spouses of local government chairmen attending the meeting to promote exclusive breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding, maternal nutrition and early identification of malnutrition.
The Kaduna State Head of Service, Jummai Bako, said the repeated engagements on nutrition demonstrated the importance the state government attached to the issue.
Bako urged the spouses of LGA chairmen to involve women councillors’ wives in nutrition advocacy because of their close ties with communities.
“We want to have zero malnutrition in Kaduna State,” Bako said, urging women leaders to work together towards achieving the objective.
Jessy David, Chairman, Kaduna State House of Assembly Committee on Food and Nutrition Security, said nutrition was fundamental to the growth and development of society.
David said the committee would continue to support legislation aimed at combating malnutrition and improving the wellbeing of women and children.
He urged participants to ensure that nutrition interventions were taken from the state level to LGAs, wards and communities to promote effective grassroots participation.
Gloria Ibrahim, Commissioner for Youth Development, described nutrition as the foundation for developing a strong, vibrant and intellectually capable youth population.
Ibrahim said her ministry was ready to collaborate with stakeholders, noting that proper nutrition would strengthen the physical and mental capacity of future generations.
The UNICEF Chief of Field Office in Kaduna, Dr Gerida Birukila, said UNICEF remained committed to supporting government efforts to provide equitable access to quality nutrition services.
Birukila, represented by Chinwe Ezeife, Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, said the engagement was important because direct community involvement would help improve nutrition outcomes for children and women across the state.
Ramatu Haruna, Director of Nutrition Services, Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board, said the state had recorded progress in treating children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
Haruna said Kaduna had treated about 42,000 severely malnourished children with Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food procured with support from the state government.
She said 24,836 children were enrolled for treatment in the first quarter of 2026, with 15,000 successfully cured, while 17,400 were enrolled in the second quarter.
According to her, 6,363 children were successfully cured in the second quarter, while the state currently has 8,655 cartons of therapeutic food in stock.
Haruna also called for greater attention to the nutritional needs of girls, noting that social preferences could sometimes result in boys receiving better food than girls.
Celestina Ayim, Coordinator of Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) in Kaduna, said nutrition financing should go beyond money to include people, skills, commodities, equipment, information and partnerships.
Ayim urged the spouses of LGA chairmen to mobilise communities, connect LGAs with partners, amplify nutrition messages and monitor commitments and resource utilisation.
She said nutrition should be treated as an investment in human capital development rather than charity, stressing that every child had the right to survive, learn and thrive.
She also urged the women leaders to promote prevention through maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, growth monitoring, community mobilisation and behavioural change communication.
Shehu Yunusa, Chairman, Kaduna State House of Assembly Committee on Appropriation, pledged support for stronger nutrition financing in the 2027 state budget.
Yunusa said the committee would ensure that nutrition-related budget lines were adequately captured to enable implementing agencies to deliver required interventions.
He said a healthy state was a wealthy state, adding that the Assembly was committed to supporting resource mobilisation for improved nutrition outcomes in Kaduna.
The engagement brought together government officials, development partners, legislators and nutrition stakeholders to strengthen collective action on nutrition.
The highpoint of the event was the recognition and presentation of cash prizes to three outstanding spouses of LGA chairmen for supporting nutrition interventions in their respective areas: Makarfi, Jaba and Soba.
