About 3,000 women in Enugu State have been trained and inducted as `Smart Mothers’ on food fortification by an international organisation, Harvestplus Nigeria.
The women, mostly farmers from the 17 local government areas of the state, were inducted in Enugu on Tuesday at the launch of `Smart Mothers’ initiative of the organisation.
Harvestplus Nigeria is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Wife of Enugu State House of Assembly Speaker, Mrs Akunna Ubosi, urged Nigerian women to promote good health through nutrition to avert prevalence and terminal illnesses.
Ubosi said the initiative provided a platform for women as farmers, processors and marketers of nutritious food products to lend their voices to nutrition.
The speaker’s wife commended the international organisation for training the women on how to fortify staple foods like cassava, maize and sweet potatoes.
“When women are empowered, we normally see improvement in children’s health, education, nutrition and welfare of family members,” she said.
Special Adviser to the Enugu State Governor on Small and Medium Enterprises and Investments Promotion, Mr Anayo Agu, commended HarvestPlus and its partners for advancing the cause of eradicating global hidden hunger.
The Country Representative of Harvestplus Nigeria, Dr Paul Ilona, said unless women are trained to make nutrition-sensitive decisions, malnutrition cannot be eradicated from the country.
He said at least 53 per cent of deaths in women and children worldwide resulted from malnutrition while it killed 100 children and at least six women of child bearing age every hour in Nigeria.
“No smart mother will know the reason why children die and allow it. She will, instead, give her children the opportunity to grow to full capacity and contribute to improving her environment,” Ilona noted.
A trainee and farmer, Mrs Indiana Nwokike, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they learnt so much from the seminar, noting that cassava has over 200 by-products, including bread, cereals, garri and fufu and would utilise the knowledge she acquired during the training.
