The Nigerian Economic Summit Group has identified inflation and rising food costs as major factors to malnutrition and food insecurity among Nigeria’s millions of mothers and children.
This disclosure was made by the CEO Of NESG , Dr. Tayo Aduloju on Friday at the press briefing of the Policy Innovation Centre, according to Nairametrics.
The briefing comes ahead of NESG-PIC’s Gender and Inclusion Summit 2024 (GS-24), titled “Reimagining Gender-Inclusive Pathways and Partnerships for Poverty Reduction” and scheduled for September 4 and 5, 2024 in Abuja, Nigeria.
Aduloju stated that research demonstrates a parallel association between multidimensional poverty and gender inequality, with nations performing poorly on the Global Gender Report having high severe multidimensional poverty.
He defines multidimensional poverty as deprivation of health (undernutrition, child mortality), education (years of schooling, attendance), and living standards (electricity, sanitation, water, housing, cooking fuel, asset ownership).
Highlighting the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023, he stated that Nigeria is rated 109th out of 125 nations, suggesting extreme hunger levels, with women, girls, and people with disabilities experiencing more food insecurity.
“In 2024, around 26.5 million Nigerians are projected to be food insecure, with about 4.8 million at risk in the conflict-affected northeast.
“Similarly, approximately 9 million children under five are at risk of acute malnutrition, impacting their growth and further perpetuating poverty.
Conflict, climate change, inflation, and increasing food prices are among the pathways contributing to the rise in high food insecurity and malnutrition rates,” he noted.
Citing a World Bank data, he stated that there are large gender discrepancies in labor participation in Nigeria, with 65.5% of males and 52.1% of women.
“These disparities extend to business ownership, political leadership, employment, mobile phone use, and bank account ownership.
“The National Bureau of Statistics indicates that about two-thirds of Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor, lacking income and basic amenities like healthcare, education, and clean cooking fuels.”
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Policy Innovation Centre, Dr Osasuyi Dirisu also stated that “the intersection of poverty and gender inequity underscores profound challenges in health, livelihood, and living conditions, particularly evident in Nigeria.
According to her, many Nigerian families are enduring acute poverty, which is exacerbated by discrepancies in access to resources and opportunities.
“Africa is home to a significant proportion of the world’s poorest and marginalised populations. Despite economic growth in some regions, poverty remains pervasive, with a large segment of the population living below the poverty line of $2.15.
“The slow progress of many African countries in achieving their full social and economic potential has been linked to the failure to embrace gender equity, ” She explained.
