The United States Agency for International Development has rated Nigeria as the second country in the world worst hit by malnutrition.
The Director, USAID Mission, Anne Patterson, stated this, on Wednesday, at the Trade Fair for Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods and Other Life-saving Nutrition Commodities in Abuja.
Citing the most recent Food Consumption and Micronutrients Survey in 2021, Patterson explained that the prevalence of severe malnutrition in Nigerian children increased from seven per cent to 12 per cent over the last five years.
“This means Nigeria is the second country with the most prevalent malnutrition. Only 2.8 per cent of those children were treated with ready-to-use therapeutic foods, also known as RUTF, in the past 12 months.
“These are alarming figures. Fortunately, local procurement of RUTF is available with producers like Ariel Foods, Emzor-Foods, DABS and Nutri-K.”
Patterson said the United States government was eager to strengthen ties with private sector firms that were addressing malnutrition.
“For example, just last week, USAID entered into a partnership with Emzor Food and Beverages to build a medical-grade groundnut paste processing facility,” she said.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, Nebeolisa Anako, said malnutrition was a huge burden that needed collaborative efforts to address.
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