In a bid to combat malnutrition and promote the consumption of nutritious foods in Kaduna State, Dr. Ahmad Idi of the Department of Biotechnology at Modibbo Adama University, Yola, has advocated for more campaigns and awareness to help people understand the benefits of nutritional meals for improving health and boosting the immune system.
He made the call while speaking with newsmen shortly after facilitating a training on safe and nutritious food production and home processing for women and youth-led businesses across the Chikun, Kauru, Lere, and Jere Local Government Areas in Kaduna State.
The training was organised by Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) intervention under the Strengthening Nutrition in Priority Staples (SNIPS).
The project is being implemented in Kaduna State to ensure the availability of nutritious staple food products to end malnutrition by providing healthier dietary alternatives.
Dr. Ahmad Idi called for more awareness to encourage people to regularly consume foods and fruits that contain nutrients beneficial for eyesight and the immune system.
“Mostly you can find vitamins in fruits, but fruits is not that staple that everyone can afford”
Dr. Idi also advised the use of red maize, which contains Vitamin A, stressing that it is much more nutritious than white maize, as are sweet-fleshed potatoes and cassava.
He added that carotene is what is used to convert to vitamin A.
Dr. Idi pointed out that staples are something that everyone could afford, such as rice, cassava, sweet-fleshed potatoes, and red maize.
According to him, the trainings guide the participants on the need to understand why they need biofortified food and to consume nutritious foods.
Dr. Ahmad Idi urged the participants to also apply what they learned to their various communities and promote the consumption of nutritional food, particularly food that is biofortified with Vitamin A and other micronutrients.
“The training is to equip the participants on how to use biofortified products, especially food staples that have been fortified with vitamin A. This is due to the importance of Vitamin A in our bodies; it has a significant impact on the immune system and eyesight.”
“The training will teach them on how to utilize the biofortified staples into various recipes,introducing the bio nutrients into our staples, most staples don’t contain all the nutrients that we needs” he said.
One of the participants in the training, Mr. Ezekiel Jatau, said in an interview with newsmen that the training would help the participants adopt the right nutritional meals for their bodies and health.
Mr. Jatau also revealed that they have acquired knowledge on how to use red sweet potatoes and other foods to obtain the required nutrients for the body.
He promised to engage in farming products with more vitamins nutrients.
Another participant, Nafisa Shuaibu, also expressed gratitude to GAIN for organizing the program, as they have learned which foods to consume to obtain the required body nutrients and have also prepared vitamin A-rich foods and juice.
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is implementing the Strengthening Nutrition in Priority Staples Project (SNIPS) in Nigeria in partnership with GIZ and the Green Innovation Centre for the Agricultural and Food Sector in Nigeria.
The project which is with the support from the German government through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The Participants were introduced to the nutritional staple crops and taught how to produce nutrient-enriched products from Vitamin A. Maize such as tom brown, Tuwon Masara, Chin Chin, Masa dawanke, Dakuwa, Kulikuli pap, and bread.
The training aims to scale the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition intervention under the Strengthening Nutrition in Priority Staples (SNIPS) project being implemented in Kaduna State. Its goal is to ensure the availability of nutritious staple food products to end malnutrition and hidden hunger, providing healthier dietary alternatives for consumption.
It also introduces home processing techniques for Vitamin A Maize, Vitamin A Cassava, and Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato to food processors, farmers’ associations, and cooperative societies, with a special focus on women and youth-led MSMEs.
COV/AMINU DALHATU
