VICE President Kashim Shettima has unveiled the framework for federal government’s comprehensive vision for a nationwide nutrition programme to address malnutrition and food insecurity in Nigeria.
Speaking Tuesday during a roundtable with development partners at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the Vice President said the initiative aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s focus on food security and availability across Nigeria.
“The priority with which His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has pursued food availability has gone hand-in-hand with our commitment to eradicating malnutrition.
“Our aspiration as a nation goes beyond the mere abundance of food in our barns and warehouses. We cannot claim victory unless there is certainty that each household across Nigeria has access to the preferred and prescribed diets essential for a healthy life,” he said.
He urged the development partners to support the proposed initiative, recognising the crucial role of collaboration in addressing the nation’s nutritional challenges.
“This initiative must be owned by our development partners just as much as it is by the government, for each of us is a stakeholder in the emergence of a healthy, stable Nigeria,” he said.
He said the proposed Nutrition 774 Initiative adopts a grassroots-driven approach to empower local actors to take charge of nutritional improvements in their communities and invest in local capacity through the training of health workers and community leaders.
“Nutrition 774 Initiative is an assurance to all Nigerians — young and old, single and married, from North to South. It assures us that balancing the diets of our nation is not just an aspiration but a mission we must pursue with purpose and passion,” he said.
The Vice President said while Nigeria grapples with recent floods and global inflationary pressures affecting food security, response must not only be innovative but must address the challenges directly.
“Every Naira invested in the nourishment of our people yields returns many times over — not just in the health of our people, but in the security and future of our nation,” he said.
The Vice President also stressed the importance of monitoring, saying local government areas that have shown commitment and passion towards driving the process must be incentivised.
The Minister of Health and Coordinating Minister of Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, described the initiative under the National Council on Nutrition as very crucial in addressing the challenging situation of acute, sub-acute and chronic malnutrition, especially among vulnerable populations at the grassroots.
“The approach under the leadership of the Vice President is to facilitate, taking into cognizance the national structure that we have – the federal government, state governments and local governments- and to bring in all the stakeholders to address the issue.
“It is necessary for us to get this done across sectors – Agriculture, Health, Water and Sanitation, and Social Protection – bringing all of them together to address this issue, otherwise we’ll just be passing the buck without addressing the challenge that we have.
“This will only be successful and sustainable if we forge a common direction as a strong collaborative partnership among the federal government across ministries and subnational entities, with local governments, with development partners, civil society organisations and the private sector. And I think the leadership of the Vice President in this council has enabled all these to come together as a central unit for us to proceed,” he said.
The Director General for African Development Bank (AfDB) in Nigeria, Mr Abdul Kamara, said the bank was pleased to be part of the federal government’s initiative to address malnutrition and hunger.
He said the initiative was very timely as nutrition features prominently in AfDB’s programming and support across the continent.
The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Ndiamé Diop, said the vision for the Nutrition 774 Grassroots Initiative was compelling, with the framework aligning with global evidence in the sector.
Pledging the World Bank’s full support for the programme, the Country Director said the bank has ongoing programmes that are fit-for-purpose in supporting the initiative.
