The Enugu State Government invested a total of N439.2 million in nutrition and related health interventions in 2025 to improve child survival and development outcomes, an official has revealed.
Ifeyinwa Ani-Osheku, Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency, disclosed this during a two-day Joint Inception and Planning Meeting in Awka. The event, organised for stakeholders from Enugu and Benue states, focused on preventing malnutrition during the first 1,000 days of life. It was a collaboration between UNICEF, both state governments, and the United States Government.
According to Ms Ani-Osheku, N160 million was allocated to the Child Nutrition Fund for essential commodities, including small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements, ready-to-use therapeutic food, and multiple micronutrient supplements.
She further detailed that N178 million from the state budget procured two million doses of Albendazole for deworming, while N61.33 million funded two rounds of the 2025 Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week. Additional allocations included N8 million for World Food Day activities, N4.6 million to inaugurate Local Government Committees on Food and Nutrition, and N8.9 million for Nutrition Week. Quarterly meetings of the State Committee on Food and Nutrition received N1.2 million, and N16 million was committed to promoting dietary diversity within the first 1,000 days of life.
Ms Ani-Osheku commended UNICEF for supporting the state with nutrition commodities worth hundreds of millions of naira, including multiple micronutrient supplements, vitamin A supplements, therapeutic foods, and lipid-based nutrient supplements. UNICEF also provided N75.38 million to support two rounds of the 2025 Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week.
Mixed progress in child nutrition indicators
State Nutrition Officer Loveth Onwuzulike reported mixed progress in Enugu’s child nutrition indicators, with improvements in exclusive breastfeeding and dietary diversity, but persistent challenges. Stunting stood at 15.2 per cent in 2024, while wasting was 3.9 per cent. Exclusive breastfeeding declined slightly to 54.1 per cent in 2024.
She noted that only 38 per cent of pregnant women attended at least four antenatal visits, and 52 per cent suffered from anaemia, indicating gaps in maternal nutrition. Just 41 per cent of women received iron or micronutrient supplements, and only 16 per cent of children aged 6 to 23 months met the minimum acceptable diet.
Key challenges affecting programme delivery include inadequate funding, a shortage of nutritionists, weak data management, poor healthcare worker attitudes, and insufficient functional treatment centres. Ms Onwuzulike also decried the absence of six months’ paid maternity leave and government-owned crèches, which she described as critical to improving breastfeeding and child care.
She called on the state government to increase domestic financing, recruit more nutrition officers, and approve family-friendly workplace policies. She also recommended the reactivation of Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition centres and increased awareness campaigns.
UNICEF commends states’ commitment
Earlier, the Chief of UNICEF Field Office in Enugu, Juliet Chiluwe, praised the Benue and Enugu State Governments for their strong commitment to improving nutrition for women and children. She described the first 1,000 days of life — from conception to age two — as critical for lifelong health and development.
“This meeting is an opportunity to align priorities, clarify roles, and drive evidence-based, results-oriented implementation. Sustainable nutrition outcomes require coordinated, multi-sectoral efforts across health, agriculture, education, water, sanitation, and social protection. UNICEF is committed to supporting both states in achieving lasting results,” she said.
Stunting refers to chronic malnutrition-induced height deficiency, defined as height-for-age below two standard deviations from the WHO Child Growth Standards median. Wasting is an acute nutrition condition that makes a child too thin for their height.
