by Danjuma Attah, Gombe
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Gombe State Government are strengthening two major interventions toward sustanin the fight against child malnutrition in the State.
The two interventions are through the promotion of the cultivation and consumption of the Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) in households as well as the Small Quantity Lipid-based Nutrition Supplement (SQ-LNS) on children between six to 23 months.
The interventions are among many others that the UNICEF and the Gombe State Government have been deploying in addressing malnutrition which many caregivers have attested to the effectiveness on their children.
Both interventions are under the UK-funded Progressing Action on Resilient System for Nutrition Through Innovation and Partnership (PARSNIP), aimed at improving dietary diversity, reducing micronutrient deficiencies and promoting the consumption of locally available nutrient-rich foods.
During a recent field trip to Kaltungo and Kwami Local Government Areas, where both programmes are being implemented, our Correspondent reports bow the programmes are receiving wide acceptability due to their positive impact on the economies of households and especially the improved health of children. The programme is also run in Dukku LGA.
In Kaltungo, women who embraced the cultivation and use of the Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato attested to the the huge positive impact it has made to their economy and life of their infants while in Kwami, Nursing mothers expressed delight over the ‘great magic’ that the SQ-LNS has been making in improving the nutritional requirements of their children.
In Lapamdintai, Kaltungo LGA, Amina Isah took journalists round her little farm within her premises where she explained how she has made hundreds of thousands of naira growing, selling and consumption of the OFSP.
The value chain includes, the variety of food made from the Potatoes, the leaves of the plant more so that it could be cultivated three times a year. According to her, she makes huge profit selling the potatoes and the leaves which attracts massive patronage.
In other households in Kaltungo, the mothers attested to the improved health of their children due to the consumption of the different varieties of food made from the OFSP. One of them said, “my child doesn’t experience those sicknesses associated with the children since i started giving him the OFSP in different forms. This is unlike my older children who couldn’t get that privilege because we were not aware of the OFSP then.
In Kwami where the SQ-LNS intervention is being administered to children of age six to 23 months, mothers also attested to the effectiveness of the SQ-LNS on their children’s health and vitality.
Hauwa Sani is a nursing mother whose son is fifteen months old. She explained that they are given 30 sachets of the SQ-LNS for a month and a sachet is given two times a day either directly or in the meals of the children. She had already collected for three months until the stock out.
While calling for the return of the distribution of the SQ-LNS, she said since she started giving it to her child, the child has been hyper active with no issues of childhood sickness such as fever and the likes, urging other mothers to go to the health centre and collect and administer the SQ-LNS to their children for their wellbeing.
Philomena Irene is the Nutrition Specialist in the Bauchi Field Office of UNICEF and she explained that the overall goal of the PARSNIP project is to prevent and reduce child wasting by strengthening resilient nutrition systems.
According to her, its specific objectives are to improve Infant and Youn Child Feeding (IYCF) practices for better prevention, enhance early detection and referral of malnutrition through routine screening, and strengthen treatment services at community and facility levels.
She said, the project also builds Government-led nutrition systems, promotes multi-sectoral collaboration across health, WASH, and agriculture, and supports innovative, resilient approaches that ensure nutrition services continue effectively even during shocks.
She revealed that, a total of 106,248 children have been reached with SQLNS from 2023 – 2025 and highlighted other achievements to include the training of 20,347 caregivers on the effective use of MUAC tapes and proper MIYCN practices.
Their ability to monitor children’s growth, detect malnutrition early, and adopt optimal feeding practices, were also strengthened, thereby directly improving child nutrition and health outcomes.
The training also includes, “period of exclusive breastfeeding, early initiation, the type of food groups, and key household practices such as sanitation, disposal of feaces, how to cultivate food that are abundantly available, how to prevent harvest loss, preservation of water among many others”, Philomena stated.
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