By Maureen Agbala
The Anambra State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Chukwukadibia Okoye, has called for a comprehensive food and nutrition performance scorecard to strengthen the state’s intervention programmes and improve its performance in future national assessments.
Okoye made the call on July 10, during an advocacy visit by members of the State Committee on Food and Nutrition to his office in Awka, saying the report should capture the state’s 2024 assessment, identified gaps, interventions undertaken and outstanding challenges to support an evidence based memorandum to Gov. Chukwuma Soludo.
He said the scorecard would provide government with a clear picture of progress made and areas requiring further intervention, adding that local government councils should leverage their autonomy to fund nutrition related activities while the state government provides policy direction and coordination.
The commissioner also stressed the need for recommendations submitted to government to be backed by official documents, including meeting minutes and formal correspondence, to facilitate informed decision making.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs Chinyere Nwabachili, said the ministry serves as the coordinating agency for the State Committee on Food and Nutrition, which was established in 2016 and revitalised in 2024 after years of institutional setbacks.
She said Anambra recorded no score in a previous national nutrition assessment but had since partnered with relevant national authorities to address identified gaps, leading to marked improvement. She added that achieving food security and improved nutrition requires the active participation of ministries, departments, agencies and the 21 local government councils.
Also speaking, the State Nutrition Officer, Dr. Rose Amasiani, appealed for stronger collaboration with local government chairmen to ensure sustained funding for nutrition programmes at the grassroots.
Amasiani said committee members had relied on personal resources to carry out activities due to the absence of dedicated funding and called for annual budgetary provisions to support meetings, monitoring and implementation of nutrition programmes across the state.
Responding, Okoye said he was concerned by reports placing Nigeria among countries with a high burden of malnutrition and would review the available data and its source. He reaffirmed the Soludo administration’s commitment to strengthening food security, reducing malnutrition and promoting greater planning, accountability and collaboration across all levels of government.
Maureen Agbala is of the Ministry of Information and Value Reformation, Anambra State
