The Katsina State Government has announced plans to establish a local factory for the production of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and employ more than 2,300 health workers as part of a comprehensive strategy to combat child malnutrition across the state.
The Governor of Katsina, Dikko Radda disclosed this during his opening address at the High-Level Conference on Mobilising Against Malnutrition in North-west Nigeria held in Abuja.
Radda said the initiative reflects his administration’s resolve to confront the region’s nutrition crisis with sustainable, home-grown solutions that combine local production, social protection, and healthcare reform.
He said the state’s new direction was inspired by a recent report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which exposed the alarming scale of child malnutrition in Katsina and other parts of the northwest.
“When the MSF report came out, people thought we were going to fight them because it was so daunting,” he said.
“But I told my team, if there is malnutrition in Katsina, then let’s confront it. Let’s make the report a catalyst for change.”
Following the report, the governor said his administration set up a multi-sectoral committee to diagnose the underlying causes of malnutrition.
The findings, he noted, have now become part of the state’s strategic blueprint for addressing the crisis.
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