“This validation workshop would inform us about where we are, the investment we have made, and where we want to take nutrition,” she said.
She said from the assessment they found out that there are available network platforms, coordinating secretariat, focal persons in various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and parliamentary platform for nutrition.
“In order to have a broader influence on nutrition, we have engaged the presence of influential platforms which include parliamentarians. We still need to include the academic and local authorities’ platforms,” she noted.
The SUN National Coordinator said the multi-stakeholder platform has reviewed its five year multi-sectorial plan, which involved lots of consultations and contributions from various sectors.
“In an effort to sustain political impact of the multi-stakeholder platform, government has taken the sole responsibility of supporting the SUN Secretariat,” she said.
She called on all participants to put efforts together so as succeed in the fight against hunger and malnutrition.
Representative from the National School Feeding Secretariat, Director of Nutrition, Mamusu Massaquoi said the school feeding programme would be a fair judgement to see where the country is heading to in terms of enhancing nutrition in the country.“Government has invested in the school feeding programme which has attracted 210,000 pupils. The districts that have so far benefitted from the programme include Koinadugu, Falaba, Kambia, Pujehun, and Tonkolili,” she said.She said 69 billion Leones has been allocated for the remaining 11 (eleven) districts.“This is to show how the government is serious and committed to fight against hunger and malnutrition,” she noted.Dr.
Mohamed Ajuba Sheriff, Deputy Director of Planning, Evaluation, Monitoring and Statistics Division in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, said the government scaled up and align resources including addressing financial shortfalls.“There was an increment of seven percent in budgetary allocations by the government to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry,” he said.
