By Lizzy Carr
To improve food security and contribute to the reduction of malnutrition among women of reproductive age and children under 5, Catalyzing strengthened Policy Action for Healthy Diets and Resilience CASCADE has trained 109 women led farmers on good agronomic practices for orange fleshed sweet potatoes and vegetables production in five local government areas of Bauchi State.
Project Manager of CASCADE Isaac Ishaya Audu gave an overview of the organization’s implementation in Bauchi during the official launch of the Bauchi State Multi Sectoral Plan of Action for Nutrition 2024_2018 at the government house.
He said under its nutrition sensitive agriculture CASCADE has also empower 1,761 women with orange fleshed sweet potatoes vines, 494 vegetable seeds in Bauchi, Dass, Ningi, Toro and Jama’are local government areas.
” Additionally 520 small holders on vegetable production and provided another 683 women with vegetable seeds and 316 women got OFSP vines for dry season irrigation in the five LGAs we are operating “.
Isaac Ishaya added that CASCADE has set-up 10 demonstration plots and model farms across the State, trained 120 vine multipliersaz well as supported the conduct of essential need assessment for October 2024 Cadre Harmonization in Bauchi with support from FAO and Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
“CASCADE has been able to set up two green houses in Dass and Ningi LGAs, trained poultry mother units on integrated oiler management practices and under our gender transformative approaches on maternal infant and young child nutrition and social behavioral change communication gender champions were trained “.
The organization has distributed 118 kits of bio based solutions worth N65.000 to each of the women lead farmers and facilitated orientation of 65 input suppliers on business linkages with lead agricultural firms
“CASCADE is worried that malnutrition still remains a challenge in Bauchi state with statistics from NDHS 2023_2024 putting the stunted rate of children under 5 at 54.2% which is one of the highest in the country, 6.9% suffer from severe acute malnutrition and 68.6% of pregnant women are anemic impacting both mother and child”.
The multi sectoral plan of Action he noted is an approach that will strengthen nutrition, health, education, agriculture and social sector for a healthier Bauchi State.
Isaac Ishaya stated that by 2028, the plan want to reduce childhood stunting from 54.2% to 18%, reduce child wasting from 6.9% to 10% and reduce anemia among pregnant women from 68.6% to 40%.
The plan also want to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates from 24.6% to 65% and increase access to safe drinking water to 80%.
To achieve these CASCADE recommended the need to strengthen multi sectoral Sectoral collaboration among government agencies, partners and NGOs, increase budgetary allocation for nutrition programs and ensure sustained implementation.
Government should improved training for health workers, agriculture extension workers and social mobilisers.
The multi sectoral plan developed with support from CASCADE, Alive&Thrive FHI360, UNICEF and other partners will harmonies nutrition financing, mobilisation of resources and track progress to achieve SDGs 2030. (www.krestnews.com)..
.