Objectives
In Nigeria 32% of children are stunted, 30% suffer from vitamin A deficiency and 70% are anaemic. The Federal Government of Nigeria developed the National Strategic plan of action for nutrition: 20142019 with the aim of identifying and implementing high impact, cost effective nutrition interventions nationally.
Methods
The Federal Government engaged all State Governments in a bottom up participatory process to identify relevant nutrition interventions for Nigeria. Rigorous stakeholder engagement of academia, NGOs, UN agencies and donors was undertaken. For each intervention delivery mechanisms were identified and costings calculated based on 3 scale up scenarios with varying intervention packages and coverage levels.
Results
The plan underscores a national vision for collective action to tackle undernutrition. Robust frameworks were developed to identify stakeholders roles and responsibilities to facilitate accountability and transparency. The nutrition plan outlines 10 interventions, seven of which relate directly to micronutrient deficiency control: vitamin A, zinc, iron folate, micronutrient powders, deworming, large scale food fortification and salt iodisation. The total cost required to implement the plan is 912 million USD, of which 30% relates to scaling up the 7 micronutrient interventions.
Conclusions
Through stakeholder engagement and advocacy, micronutrient deficiency control has been placed at the forefront of nutrition programming in Nigeria. The collaborative approach to developing the plan has forged an enabling environment in which the Federal and State Governments, donors and partners have committed resources to operationalise the plan. In line with the strategic plan a multi-stakeholder alliance has also being forged to initiate and scale MNP nationally.
