Following the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund report that 4.7 million, out of 5.9 million babies that are born every year in Nigeria suffer malnutrition, natnudO Foods has donated 5,000 birds and 75,000 eggs to the Internally Displaced Persons’ camp in the North-East part of the nation.
The Group Managing Director, natnudO Foods, Dr. Ayoola Oduntan, explained that the initiative was introduced to reduce malnutrition, infant mortality rate, and increase income for the less-privileged in the country.
According to him, the move is out of its goodwill in support of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Borno State Government’s effort, to save the people in the region from deficiency of protein in their daily food consumption and to create a source of income to the women in the rural areas, by donating foundation stock to make them poultry entrepreneurs.
“Both birds and eggs, which are among the best sources of protein, would enhance the nutrition profile of their diet. The quickest and easiest source through which the people in the disadvantaged rural areas and IDP camps can get high quality protein to supplement their food is chicken and eggs.
“The Noiler birds, which could be reared at the backyard, on free range, just like the local birds, do not require high input in rearing like the broiler and layer breeds, but happily produce eggs and gain weight rapidly like them. The dual purpose birds were developed in Nigeria and would serve two purposes of providing protein and creating entrepreneurs in the country,” he
said.
He added that malnutrition and poverty would grossly reduce in the country “if we can have five million rural women with 20 birds in their backyards to feed their children with eggs and chicken, or sell poultry products in their village markets to support their families.”
The Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, explained that the donation to the lDPs would go a long way to reduce the suffering of the affected people.
“I commend the company for its pioneering research and development effort in the poultry sector, as this is one of the things needed at this time to develop the agricultural sector. The ministry will seek the partnership of the company in sustaining locally developed birds,” he applauded.
