Aliko Dangote Foundation Integrated Nutrition (ADFIN) Project on Thursday put pen to paper on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Kano State Government to check the prevalence of malnutrition in the state.
The event was held at ECA Unit of Abdullahi Wase Hospital in Kano yesterday.
Speaking before the official signing of the MoU, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Aliko Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, said the foundation is worried about the prevalence of malnutrition, especially among children in the state.
According to her, the foundation had already contributed immensely to the feeding programme by Hajiya Mariya Dantata, where about 30,000 meals are distributed daily.
She also said part of the foundation’s commitment towards checking malnutrition is the distribution of 20,000 loaf of bread daily in Kano, and 10,000 in Lagos.
Youssoufou said part of the signing of the MoU is the commitment of over N50 million to procure ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) for treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the state.
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She also said the RUTF will be produced by a company based in Kano and to reach each household of the vulnerable children with it intervention.
According to her, ‘the primary focus of Aliko Dangote Foundation is nutrition which wraps around interventions on health, education and empowerment.
‘Based on this, we are now making unprecedented investment to improve nutrition in our country. We intend to treat the children with SAM using RUTF which was produced right here in Kano by a sister company.
‘We will reach each household of these children with food nutrition. To do this, we have trained a first cohort of community active mobilizers that will help identify the vulnerable children and refer them for treatment.
‘The ADFIN programme was designed to start in Kano State with plans to extend to other 13 northern states. The programme was to take off in 13 out of the 44 councils in Kano State.
‘We need to end this scourge of malnutrition and the signing of this MoU takes us close to achieving the goal.
‘We, however, solicit other partners with expertise to join hands with us to achieve a robust and sustainable solution,” Youssoufou said.
Kano State Commissioner for Health, Aminu Tsanyawa, commended Dangote and his foundation for investing towards improving the health and well-being of people of the state.