COVID-19 Pandemic and its Implication for Nutritional Status of Children in Nigeria: A Call for Transformation to a Sustainable Food System

Abstract

Background: Nigeria contributes the highest burden of childhood malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa and this has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Food system unsustainability has been shown to be the main driver for continued food insecurity and subsequent malnutrition. This paper discusses key issues pertaining to child nutritional status in Nigeria within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the importance of adopting a sustainable food system framework that ensures food and nutrition security for all including children.Discussion: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the weaknesses in the food system, in addition to those already caused by other factors such as conflicts, climate change, demographic and economic factors, amongst others. Food systems, through diets, give rise to nutrition and health outcomes as well as those related to the dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social). The complex nature of the food system and its interactions with food and nutrition security requires adoption and practice of more effective food policy framework that embraces four critical policy shifts that support all dimensions of food security and transformation pathways which address the negative impacts of the drivers of food security.Conclusion: The need for the government to adopt a sustainable, resilient, and efficient food policy that appreciates the complexity of food systems drivers and outcomes cannot be overemphasized. This is essential for upholding the right to adequate food as well as ending hunger, and malnutrition in all its forms for all children.