CIVIL Society Organisations (CSOs) working on early childhood development (ECD) have warned that inadequate support for breastfeeding and child nutrition could cost Nigeria up to 21 billion dollars in future economic losses.
The CSOs said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja to mark World Breastfeeding Week.
They said poor nutrition and inadequate support for ECD were not merely health or social concerns.
The organisations comprised Verbatim Virtual Solutions, Community Child Education and Development, Lluvia Health Organisation, C-WINS and Child & Youth Protection Foundation.
They described them as major threats to Nigeria’s human capital, workforce productivity, and ambition to build a one-trillion-dollar economy.
They called on the Federal Government to reposition ECD as a strategic economic investment, stressing that investment in children was critical to Nigeria’s future workforce and economic growth.
The CSOs said Nigeria’s stunting rate had remained between 37 per cent and 40 per cent for about two decades, meaning that about four in every 10 children under five were affected.
According to them, child stunting alone is estimated to drain between four billion dollars and six billion dollars from the Nigerian economy annually.
They said that the country’s failure to protect and support breastfeeding was contributing to wider economic losses.
They also raised concern that only 29 per cent of Nigerian infants below six months were exclusively breastfed, with the average duration of exclusive breastfeeding standing at 2.8 months.
The organisations said the first 2,000 days of a child’s life represented a critical window for brain and physical development.
They warned that setbacks during the period could have long-term consequences for learning, productivity and overall wellbeing.
Ms Enene Ejembi, Executive Director at Verbatim Virtual Solutions, said a well-nourished child was more likely to learn effectively, develop productive capabilities and contribute meaningfully to national prosperity.
“Investing in young mothers and their capacity to breastfeed healthily and easily is an investment in Nigeria’s future human capital, workforce productivity and long-term economic growth,” she said.
Dr Amenze Eguavoen, Executive Director of Lluvia Health Organisation, said breastfeeding could not be treated in isolation because mothers needed knowledge, support, enabling environments and responsive health systems to breastfeed successfully.
Eguovoen, who is also a public health physician and child and adolescent health advocate, called for the establishment of a multi-sectoral ECD council with budgetary authority to coordinate interventions across nutrition, health, early learning and child safety.
She also called for results-based financing that would reward measurable outcomes across the different ECD components rather than activities implemented separately by individual sectors.
The CSOs further called for adequate paid maternity leave, workplace breastfeeding support and maternal education to enable women to continue breastfeeding after childbirth without compromising their livelihoods.
They said strategic investment in ECD was critical to preparing the workforce that would drive Nigeria’s economy in 2050. (NAN)
