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  • Title: Caring capacity in the management of the nutrition crisis in infants, young children and women in Nigeria.
    Author: Igbedioh SO.
    Journal: Nutr Health; 1996; 10(4):359-70. PubMed ID: 8738875.
    Abstract:
    Nigeria's nutrition crisis has been shown to have a considerable negative impact on infants, young children and women. Available evidence suggests that 'caring capacity' when properly planned and targeted at the most-at-risk can help. Strategies that can achieve this care are increasing women's income and control over income, increasing investment in women's education and improving access to credit facilities. Others are the aggressive promotion of gender-biased labour saving technology, increasing women's access to basic health and family planning services and implementing reforms in land ownership while instituting social security for women. This paper explores a variety of strategies and policies in Nigeria that may enhance women's "caring capacity" for the food and nutrition security of their children and families. The options that are discussed include increased income for women, women's control of income, investment in women's education, increased access to credit for productive options, increased access to labor-saving technologies, strengthening rights to land and property, creating demands for women's health services and basic health services, and improving access to nutrition information and appropriate social security programs. Nigerian people suffer from increased stunting, wasting, low birth weight, leanness, high infant mortality, iron deficiency anemia, and vitamin A deficiencies. Food shortages exacerbate the nutrition crisis. Infants, young children, and women experience poor nutrition in Nigeria. One way of coping with poor nutrition is the promotion and strengthening of caring capacity, which is the optimal use of household resources to protect and care for the sick child or other vulnerable member of the community, such as the disabled or elderly. Programs can be put in place to enhance female caring ability. For instance, findings indicate that educated women farmers achieve higher productivity levels compared to uneducated women. A Pakistani study found that educating women to at least the primary level was likely to be three times more effective than increasing household income by 10%. It is argued that reducing women's time and energy in domestic chores would free up time for adequate child care and nutrition. Women in Benue State reduced their water-fetching time by using a wheeled water carrier. Cooperatives that mill flour save individual member's milling time. Combining tasks, such as fetching firewood on the way home from the fields, is another time saver.
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