Vice President Kashim Shettima has declared the federal government’s readiness to end malnutrition in Nigeria through the Nutrition 774 Initiative, a comprehensive programme designed to deliver coordinated nutrition interventions across all 774 local government areas, while the National Council on Nutrition simultaneously adopted the National Policy on Food and Nutrition covering 2026 to 2035 at its 15th virtual meeting.
Shettima described the Nutrition 774 Initiative as proof of the government’s pragmatic commitment to translating policy into household-level outcomes, warning that success would ultimately be measured not by federal announcements or council deliberations but by real improvements in the lives of mothers and children in every local government area across the country.
“Behind every statistic is a child whose future is at stake. Behind every percentage is a mother, a family, a community, and a country either rising to its duty or retreating from it,” he said, stressing that the government’s accountability extended to every Nigerian child whose life chances would be shaped by the decisions made or deferred in the coming months.
He described the newly adopted National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026 to 2035 as the most consequential nutrition policy Nigeria had ever produced, characterising it as multi-sectoral by design, evidence-based in its approach, and genuinely grassroots in its orientation. He emphasised that the policy belonged not to any single ministry but to every level of government, every agency, and every community across the federation.
The council directed the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning to transmit the policy to the Federal Executive Council for final ratification, instructed all nutrition-relevant ministries, departments, and agencies to align their sectoral policies and budgets with the policy’s provisions within 12 months, and directed all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to operationalise State Multisectoral Plans of Action for Food and Nutrition within six to nine months.
On financing, the council approved five identified streams covering domestic, bilateral, multilateral, private sector, and innovative sources, and directed the establishment of a co-branded private sector challenge window within 60 days in coordination with the Dangote Foundation and relevant federal ministries. A draft National Nutrition Bill was also directed to be transmitted to the National Assembly within eight weeks.
