Stakeholders in Adamawa state, comprising agricultural experts, nutritionists, media and academics have embraced the new federal government’s initiative to improve behavioural outcomes in the state.
The determination followed the federal government’s decision to adopt a new action plan towards improving the nutritional needs of all Nigerians across all circles, expected to be domesticated in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The strategy was unanimously adopted at a 4-day workshop on domestication of the National Social and Behavioural Change Communication (SBCC) for nutrition programmes.
It was organised in collaboration with the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) to equip participants with necessary skills to effectively promote nutrition-related behavioural change in the state, with commitments to key into the programme and address the nutritional needs of the people of Adamawa state.
Speaking at the workshop, lead facilitator of the training, Dr. Steve Daniel, a lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, said the essence of the programme was for each state and stakeholders to bring their peculiar behavioural analysis and reality of their nutritional situation to be included in the national document for implementation .
He added that the workshop is also aimed at bringing stakeholders together to brainstorm and collectively look at their own nutritional situation and identify the gaps and challenges faced in order to find workable solutions to the nutritional social behaviours across all circles.
He said the new strategy followed the federal government’s decision through the Federal Ministry of Health and development partners to develop and adopt a 4 – 5-year action plan on nutrition to be implemented in the country in order to fast track nutritional needs of all Nigerians across all circles.
Daniel stated further that unlike other programmes implemented in the past, which focused only on children such as initiation, exclusive breastfeeding, complementary feeding among others, this new initiative is focused on nutritional needs of all groups, including pre-school age, school age, adolescent, adult and the elderly.