Jigawa, Care International strengthen partnership on nutrition, women empowerment

Jigawa, Care International strengthen partnership on nutrition, women empowerment

By Ali Baba-Inuwa
The Jigawa State Government and Care International have reinforced their strategic partnership to improve nutrition and advance women’s empowerment across the state, with a renewed focus on scaling up targeted interventions that enhance maternal and child health, strengthen household food security, and expand economic opportunities for women.

This was made known when a delegation from CARE International and the CASCADE Project paid a courtesy visit to Governor Malam Umar Namadi on Thursday at the Government House, Dutse.

The visit formed part of ongoing engagements by the development partners to assess the impact of their interventions and strengthen cooperation with the state government.

Speaking during the visit, the Deputy Director of CARE International Nigeria, Mrs. Jennifer Orgle, expressed appreciation for the level of support received from the Jigawa State Government, noting that such cooperation has been critical to the success of their programmes.

“One of the things that has stood out for us throughout this visit has been government support throughout the implementation,” she said.

“Today, one of the issues that came up strongly among the women participants that we worked with has been the issue of them having access to more land to cultivate more nutritious food.”

She explained that the team had interacted with beneficiaries, government officials, and private sector partners across the state, including visits to primary healthcare facilities, where they observed notable improvements in the lives of women and children.

“We have seen improvements in the lives of women and their children. We have seen improvements in the lives of the people that we work with, and we know that without your partnership, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve all of this.”

Mrs. Orgle highlighted the growing need to expand access to farmland for women engaged in agricultural activities, particularly in the production of nutritious food, adding that government officials had shown willingness to support such initiatives.

Responding, Governor Namadi welcomed the delegation and commended CARE International and its partners for their sustained efforts in addressing nutrition challenges in the state.

He described malnutrition as a serious concern not only for Jigawa State but for the country at large, stressing that early intervention remains key to securing a healthier future for children.

“The issue of nutrition has been a very serious issue, not only in Jigawa State but in Nigeria. But I think a lot has been done with the support of partners and the effort of different governments at different levels. I think we are going to win the fight, Insha Allah,” the governor stated.

The governor noted that his administration has placed strong emphasis on programmes that directly address nutrition and improve livelihoods, particularly for women.

“As a government, we are making a very serious and concerted effort to ensure that we are dealing with the issue of malnutrition.”

He highlighted the impact of existing initiatives such as the MASAKI programme, which he said is already yielding positive results, as well as the recently introduced Tom Brown programme, designed to utilise locally available resources to improve child nutrition.

According to him, over 600 women have been trained under the programme and provided with equipment and start-up support, while also being linked to primary healthcare centres to ensure sustained demand for their products.

“We have attached each of the women to a particular primary healthcare centre so that when they produce, there will be automatic uptake by the primary healthcare sector. With this, we have achieved two purposes: we are addressing the issue of nutrition, and at the same time, we are empowering women. This is giving us very good results.”

He further disclosed that efforts are underway to secure regulatory approval for the locally produced nutrition products, noting that the state is working closely with relevant authorities to ensure quality and safety standards are met.

The governor assured the delegation of the state government’s continued support for development partners, emphasizing that such collaborations remain essential to advancing the welfare of women and children.

He reiterated that Jigawa State will continue to provide the enabling environment for partners to implement programmes that directly benefit the people.