World Food Day: Oyo Targets Malnutrition Reduction, Strengthens Food Security Efforts

…….. Pays $150,000 into UNICEF Child Nutrition Fund

The Oyo State Government has reiterated its commitment to ensuring access to safe, nutritious, and affordable food for all residents as part of its broader health and development agenda.

The State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oluwaserimi Adewumi Ajetunmobi, gave the assurance on Thursday during an event commemorating the 2025 World Food Day held at the Ring Road State Hospital, Ibadan.

Speaking on the theme “Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future,” Ajetunmobi noted that food and nutrition are central to the state’s efforts to build a healthy and productive population.

“Food is not merely what sustains life it is the foundation of health, vitality, and national productivity,” she said. “When nutrition suffers, health outcomes decline, learning capacity reduces, and communities struggle to thrive.”

Highlighting the strides made under Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration, the Commissioner said the Government, through the Sustainable Actions for Economic Recovery (SAFER) initiative, is improving agricultural productivity, supporting smallholder farmers, enhancing food storage and distribution systems, and ensuring food accessibility for households across the State.

She emphasized that the Ministry of Health remains focused on implementing nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions through the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project, which has reached thousands of women and children with essential services such as micronutrient supplementation, deworming, growth monitoring, and breastfeeding promotion.

Dr. Ajetunmobi further revealed that Oyo State has achieved a remarkable reduction in stunting rates among under-five children from 37 percent to 23.4 percent according to the 2023 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). However, she acknowledged that the State is working to address an increase in wasting prevalence, currently at 14 percent.

In a significant milestone, she announced that Oyo remains the only State in the Southwest to join the UNICEF Child Nutrition Fund (CNF), having contributed $150,000 as a matching fund to procure Small Quantity-Lipid Nutrient Supplements (SQ-LNS) and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for the prevention and treatment of child malnutrition.

She also mentioned the scale-up of the Maternal, Young Child, and Infant Nutrition (MYCIN) program, which has enhanced the capacity of healthcare workers to deliver quality nutrition counselling across the State’s facilities. Additionally, the Ministry has introduced home gardening initiatives to empower mothers to grow nutritious foods for their families.

“Together, with our partners—UNICEF, WHO, civil society, and our communities we are building a future where no child in Oyo State is stunted, no mother is malnourished, and no family goes to bed hungry,” she affirmed.

Dr. Ajetunmobi urged collective action to ensure that every meal nourishes, every child grows strong, and every household thrives in good health, noting that “a nourished population is the bedrock of a healthy, resilient, and prosperous Oyo State.”