LAGOS, AUGUST 4, 2016 – The Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO) on Thursday in Lagos called for improved nutrition of children in the country.The Director-General (DG) of FIIRO, Dr Gloria Elemo, made this call in a statement made available in Lagos.
According to Elemo, this could be done through value addition to indigenous food produce which would ensure food and nutrition security in the country.
“The establishment of Rehabilitation Centres and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are indicators of the nutritional status of the country which mostly have affected the children and the elderly.
“FIIRO is willing to collaborate with various organisations on improving nutritional status of children of ages 5-12 years, particularly as they are often neglected during nutrition planning,” she said.
She highlighted some of FIIRO’s achievements, especially in the area of nutrition to include: development of a gruel (Soy-Ogi) that contains protein and micronutrients to make a more nutritionally adequate food product.
Elemo said that currently, plans were under way for an American Company to collaborate with FIIRO in scaling-up its production to commercial level.
“A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with a Biscuit company for the commercial production of the biscuit known as CHAMP as the Federal Government is considering its incorporation into the National School Feeding Programme,” she said.
The DG added that there exist a technology for the production of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in children; Micronutrient Sprinkles for the prevention of hidden hunger (micronutrient deficiency).
Also included was a Nutraceutical drug, made from the combination of two indigenous legumes, for the management of Sickle-cell Anaemia, which was being developed.
“In all, over 250 technologies have been developed and ready for commercialisation at FIIRO, while about 70 per cent of these are food-based.
“FIIRO’s collaboration with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is also a way the institute will be contributing to the nutritional value for school children,” Elemo said.
The statement also quoted the Country Manager, GAIN, Dr Francis Aminu, as saying that the organisation would be improving malnutrition, not only through the use of RUTF, but through supplementary and complementary foods.
He added that GAIN was also looking at organising an annual Nutrition-Themed fairs where stakeholders in nutrition and food producers could meet to interact and exhibit their products.
He highlighted areas of immediate needs from FIIRO to include commercialising of technologies; product and recipe formulation and quality analyses of foods to ensure the label claims are right.
He also urged the institute to immediately join the Scaling-up Nutrition Business Network (SBN) and become a Technical partner.
In her contributions, Ms Uduak Igbeka, the Development Officer, SBN, said institutes like FIIRO were needed in guiding food production industries in recipe formulations.
She, however, stressed the need for FIIRO to come on board the network by becoming a technical partner.
She added that the SBN platform would provide an opportunity to showcase FIIRO as the institute and centre of excellence for nutrition education.
