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The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) has taken a significant step towards addressing malnutrition in Plateau State by mobilizing all 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) for grassroots action on the Nutrition 774 initiative.

This renewed intervention, under the leadership of ALGON National President Hon. Engr. Bello Lawal, is gaining traction in the health sector and other critical areas for grassroots development.

The Plateau State ALGON, through the State Government, has played host to the Team of Presidential initiative on Nutrition 774 through the office of the Vice President on Nutrition and Public Health. A 3-day programme, which includes the inauguration of state key stakeholders for the project, launching of the Nutrition 774 initiative, and sensitization of the offtakers, is currently underway and in its Day-2.

The programme is designed to tackle the growing challenges around malnutrition across the states, aligning with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. It will be recalled that His Excellency Governor Mutfwang has yesterday received in audience is the Presidential delegation, state stakeholders, the Nigerian Governor’s Forum (NGF), ALGON national officers, and development partners, who are on ground to cascade the initiative down to the rural populace to drive results.

In his remarks, the Plateau State ALGON Chairman and ALGON National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Anani Hamisu Mohammed, welcomed the Presidential delegation led by the Special Adviser to the President on Nutrition and Public Health, Mrs. Uju Awuka Rochas.

The delegation also included institutional partners from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), UNICEF, officers from the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, ALGON National representatives, and selected state delegates from Ministry, Department, and Agency (MDA’s).

The 3-day event will conclude on Thursday with a roadmap, implementation strategy, and priority action on rural engagement, budgeting, monitoring/evaluation, key performance indicators.

The event drew a cross-section of Local Government Chairmen, Vice Chairmen, Traditional Rulers, Nutrition Focal Persons from across the 17 LGAs, Budget Officers in the LGAs, and other relevant community-frontline persons in the state.

This initiative aims to design the Plateau state models, including scenario painting, prioritization, action plan, budgeting, and programme delivery, to address the state’s nutrition gap and promote grassroots development. The event is currently pivoting an inclusive strategy from quality of food intake to nutritional content, balanced dieting within available local reach, parenting, post-harvest loss preventive mechanisms, where agriculture is key alongside education.

The programme will also identify the roles of both the Local Government and its Legislative arm at the LGAs for executive political will, budget approval, implementation, oversight, and monitoring, as well as random accountability on compliance. Development partners have been identified as a force to reckon with in supporting the government, alongside specialized bodies for funding and technical support with independent monitoring, including strong awareness and community engagement, good communication, messaging, and more.

The event is currently gathering momentum at Lamonde Hotels GRA Plateau, a few meters from the State Secretariat, with breakout sessions after the plenary. It is expected that all outcomes will be harmonized to develop a best framework with standard practices for implementation through group discussions, system objectives, and overall target outcomes.

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