Oyo Government Deepens Nutrition Drive, Records Major Gains in Child Health

The Oyo State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to providing residents with safe, nutritious, and affordable food as part of its broader efforts to strengthen public health and sustainable development.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oluwaserimi Adewumi Ajetunmobi, made this known on Thursday during the commemoration of the 2025 World Food Day at the Ring Road State Hospital, Ibadan.

Speaking on the theme, “Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future,” Dr. Ajetunmobi emphasized that food and nutrition are central to the government’s vision of building a healthy, productive, and resilient population.

> “Food is not merely what sustains life; it is the foundation of health, vitality, and productivity,” she said. “When nutrition suffers, health outcomes decline, learning capacity drops, and communities find it difficult to thrive.”

The Commissioner highlighted the progress made under Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration, noting that through the Sustainable Actions for Economic Recovery (SAFER) initiative, the state is improving agricultural productivity, empowering smallholder farmers, and enhancing food storage and distribution systems to ensure food accessibility for every household.

She explained that the Ministry of Health is implementing both nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions through the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project, which has reached thousands of women and children with essential health and nutrition services such as micronutrient supplementation, deworming, growth monitoring, and breastfeeding promotion.

According to Dr. Ajetunmobi, Oyo State has recorded a notable reduction in child stunting, from 37% to 23.4%, based on the 2023 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). However, she acknowledged that the state is intensifying efforts to curb the rise in wasting prevalence, currently at 14%.

In a significant achievement, she announced that Oyo State remains the only state in the Southwest to join the UNICEF Child Nutrition Fund (CNF), contributing $150,000 as a matching fund to procure Small Quantity-Lipid Nutrient Supplements (SQ-LNS) and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for the prevention and treatment of child malnutrition.

She further disclosed the expansion of the Maternal, Young Child, and Infant Nutrition (MYCIN) programme, which has strengthened the capacity of healthcare workers to deliver quality nutrition counselling across health facilities. Additionally, the Ministry has introduced home gardening projects to empower mothers to cultivate nutritious foods for their families.

> “Together with our partners—UNICEF, WHO, civil society, and local communities—we are building a future where no child in Oyo State is stunted, no mother is malnourished, and no family goes to bed hungry,” Dr. Ajetunmobi stated.

She called for collective action to ensure that every meal nourishes, every child grows strong, and every household thrives, stressing that “a well-nourished population is the foundation of a healthy, resilient, and prosperous Oyo State.”