First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Tuesday launched the South-West Zonal National Community Food Bank in Makun, Sagamu, Ogun State, urging state governments to take ownership of the initiative to tackle food insecurity and malnutrition among vulnerable Nigerians.
Speaking at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, Tinubu said the programme was specifically designed to address food insecurity and malnutrition among vulnerable households, particularly children under six years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
The First Lady appealed to governors across the South-West to establish community food banks in partnership with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), saying such collaboration would promote the sustainability of nutritious food supplies and provide the operational support needed to maintain the initiative.
She said the main objective of the programme was to ensure that every Nigerian child was adequately nourished and provided with a healthy foundation for the future.
“The National Community Food Bank Programme is a deliberate and sustainable response to food insecurity and malnutrition among vulnerable households,” she said.
Tinubu explained that the initiative was part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, particularly its focus on food security, healthcare, social protection and human capital development.
She advised that community food banks should be located close to Primary Healthcare Centres to make them easily accessible to vulnerable families and enable health workers to identify children and women at risk of malnutrition.
According to her, unlike food hubs, community food banks were specifically established to provide free food support to disadvantaged and vulnerable Nigerians.
She therefore called on state governments to take ownership of the facilities, stressing that the Federal Government’s vision extended beyond establishing the initial food banks.
Earlier, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, said the programme demonstrated the shared commitment of the Federal Government and the state government to improving the welfare of citizens.
Abiodun said locating the food banks within Primary Healthcare Centres would help the government identify vulnerable households, support children at risk of malnutrition and provide assistance to pregnant women and nursing mothers.
He stressed that development would lose its moral value if economic growth increased while citizens’ basic needs remained unmet.
The governor added that the true measure of government was not only the number of projects commissioned but also the number of lives transformed by such projects.
“The hospitals become useful when they save lives; the houses fulfil their purpose when they shelter families,” he said.
In his contribution, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the programme would go beyond food distribution by creating a sustainable link between farmers and vulnerable consumers.
He said the initiative would also strengthen agricultural production through structured procurement and distribution of food.
“A food bank that hands out food solves a meal. A food bank tied to a farm solves a season,” Kyari said.
Also speaking, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, described the initiative as a critical intervention in addressing health challenges associated with food insecurity and malnutrition.
Pate urged governors across the South-West to key into and scale up the initiative to ensure that no child or woman was left without access to nutritious food.
Similarly, the Executive Secretary of the NPHCDA, Dr Muyi Aina, said the agency would collaborate with relevant stakeholders to strengthen food production and ensure the availability of nutritious food.
Aina said the programme targets pregnant women and children between six months and six years, adding that it would be domiciled within the country’s 13,500 Primary Healthcare Centres.
In his goodwill message, the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Michael Aremu Gbadebo, commended the First Lady for ensuring that Ogun State benefited from the programme.
He said the initiative had the potential to provide significant relief to vulnerable members of society.
Tinubu’s visit also featured the commissioning of the President Muhammadu Buhari Estate and Gateway Medical Centre of Excellence in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.