The House of Representatives will organise a three-day national summit on nutrition and food security on Wednesday, July 10, to address malnutrition in the country.

The chairman of the House Committee on Nutrition and Food Security, Chike Okafor (APC-Imo), made this known at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday.

He said the theme of the summit is “Curbing Malnutrition and Food Insecurity Through Effective Synergies.”

The lawmaker stated that despite decades of national policies and sectoral programmes to improve nutrition and food systems, Nigeria continued to grapple with alarming rates of malnutrition and food insecurity.

According to him, children under the age of five, pregnant and nursing mothers, and vulnerable populations in rural areas bear the brunt of this crisis.

Mr Okafor said the situation was exacerbated by factors such as climate change and environmental degradation, persistent insecurity across food-producing regions and high inflation.

He also said that the cost of living, as well as inadequate infrastructure for food storage, processing, and distribution, equally constituted challenges.

“The summit is designed as a multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder engagement platform; it will bring together relevant actors from the executive and legislative branches across federal, state, and local levels, as well as key development partners and the private sector.

“The core objectives are as follows: to harmonise legislative, policy and programmatic responses to nutrition and food security challenges across all tiers of governments.

“The summit will enable them to examine innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms for nutrition.

“It will equally engender public-private partnerships and formulate strategies for building resilient and inclusive food systems, particularly in the face of climate shocks, economic disruptions, and insecurity.

“To strengthen parliamentary oversight and accountability frameworks in the implementation of nutrition-related programmes and budgets and to align development partner interventions with national legislative priorities, ensuring coordinated and impactful support,” he said.

The chairman said that Vice President Kashim Shettima would be the special guest of honour, and the speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, would be the chief host.

He said Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo, Governor Mohammed Bago of Niger, all service chiefs and heads of relevant federal and state agencies will attend the summit.

Mr Okafor said other expected stakeholders include members of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and development partners, such as UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Others are the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the private sector.

“The expected outcomes include strengthened legislative frameworks for nutrition and food security at the federal and state levels.

“Improved budgetary appropriations and tracking of nutrition funding, clear recommendations for policy reform and inter-agency coordination and enhanced synergy between development partners and legislative stakeholders, among others,” Mr Okafor said.

(NAN)