FG, Others Advocate Fortified Foods For Improved Nutrition

Chief Audu Ogbeh

The federal government, through the minister of agriculture and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has added his voice to the University College (Ibadan) Hospital Agricultural Initiatve and Harvest Plus for Nigerians to cultivate the habit of eating fortified foods as a means to enhancing their nutrition.

The minister who posited that “eating well is not the same as eating much” stated this while receiving a joint delegation from the University College Teaching Hospital,  Ibadan, and Harvest Plus led by the chief Medical director (CMD), Prof Temitope Alonge, and the country manager, Mr Paul Ilona.

According to Ogbeh, “We may eat a lot but may be eating very badly which then leads to resistance to diseases and other diseases developing because of shortages of certain vital ingredients in the food we eat.

“We have serious crises now with malnourishment and malnutrition in our children; they say about 37 per cent of them are malnourished and underweight.  If this is the case, these 37 per cent will never be able to achieve their optimum in brain power and physical capacity. It also means that the average life expectancy of the average Nigerian will be about 50-52 years. If all of these are traceable to what we eat and how we eat, then we have a lot of work to do and its going to take some time to send the message across the nation.”

He noted that unfortunately, most people are so hungry that they may not have the luxury of choosing, even as he observed that most people are no longer interested in vegetables but rather go for pounded yam and rice, particularly during ceremonies.

“As for milk our children cannot afford it because we spend about a billion dollars importing milk and milk products because our cows are very poor in their yield of milk,” Ogbeh said.

Speaking earlier, the CMD said, “The University College Hospital is convinced beyond any doubt that the advent of the fortification of staple foods in Nigeria through Harvest Plus will address the epidemic of disease related malnutrition (DRM) which is a major, but overt, health challenge in our hospitals.”

He stated that the result of DRM includes poor immune response, delayed wound healing and prolonged hospitalisations with its associated problems. He added that an area of greater interest is the collaboration between the birth defect group of the hospital and Harvest Plus through the country representative to fortify food with some essentials vitamins and nutrients which will save the unborn child from life threatening birth defects some of which are very disabling.

The CMD further sought the assistance of the minister in the provision of seeds, insecticides, fertilisers and farm tools and equipment