Nigeria nutrition week 2020: Nutrition as a catalyst for economic development

Malnutrition is the number one cause of disease burden, even greater than HIV, unsafe sex, tobacco. Therefore the Nigeria nutrition week 2020 webinar on the 17th November, hosted by The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, was a call to combat malnutrition in the country and to provide effective leadership to achieve the objectives of the national food and nutrition policies. Malnutrition has serious economic consequences. The World Bank projected that it causes an annual loss of about $29 billion, which equals 11% of Nigeria’s GDP.
Speakers of the webinar included Victor Ajieroh, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Abdulwahab Ahmad, Nigeria Governors Forum Secretariat. The webinar concluded:

• The private sector can be involved in ways such as food fortification to provide essential micronutrients, post-harvest preservation and investment in technologies
• Awareness of policymakers and the public should be raised on malnutrition and adequate diets
• The Governors Forum will continue to hold governors accountable and will work with stakeholders to get nutrition back on track
• Better leadership is needed to institutionalize nutrition interventions and to translates policies into actions. 

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