By Abdulgafar Oladimeji.
The permanent Secretary, Kano state ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Balarabe Hassan Karaye has disclosed that the ministry has initiate modern food processing technique to fight against the threat posed by malnutrition in the state.
Balarabe further said the ministry has intreduce simply technology methods of grinding and milling of crops to curb loss of nutritional values in food processing.
Malnutrition: Over 2 Million Children On Death Row In Kano
Th permanent secretary made the remarks, in his office in Kano, on Monday, when he received a delegation led by the chairman steering committee, Civil Society –Scalling Up Nutrition in Nigeria, CS-SUN , Innocent Ekene, Balarabe pledged that the state government committed towards improving the standard of living of the populace through the enhancing of the production of highly nutritious crops .
“we have improved the status of nutrition in the state, , this may have not been captured due to poor records. We now have nutrition sensitive technology in our agric sector.
“before now, in the processing of crops, we were using methods that devalue the nutrition content of crops, today the story has changed for good.
“We are up and doing to ensure the problem of releases become an issue of the past, though it is important to note that there have been significant improvement in the nutrition budgeting, releases and utilization of these funds.
“we will not relent until we ensure we reach the promised land, we will continue to provide farmers with seeds and fertilizers and grants to produce nutritious foods for public consumption.” Balarabe stated.
The leader of the CS-SUN advocacy team to Kano, Innoent Mr Ekene said the team were in Kano on a support visit to implore the line ministries and MDA’s to invest efforts towards improving on the investments on nutrition, noting that “Kano is big which enlarges the challenges confronting the state and northern Nigeria in the area of malnutrition.”
He lamented that , records indicate that 37 percent of children born in Kano are suffering from stunting, he warned that the issue pose a dangerous economic and social threat that demands urgent holistic solutions.
