The Federal Government on Tuesday adopted a 10-year food and nutrition policy, directing States to form their own councils within three months to position the country to eradicate malnutrition through a local-government initiative.
Vice President Kashim Shettima stated this during the 15th meeting of the National Council on Nutrition at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The council approved the National Policy on Food and Nutrition for 2026-2035 after input from public- and private-sector stakeholders.
It tasked the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning with submitting the multi-sectoral blueprint to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), for ratification.
“This is the most consequential nutrition policy this country has produced,” Vice President Shettima said.
“It is multi-sectoral by design, evidence-based by discipline, and grassroots by orientation.”
He stressed that the policy transcends any single ministry, binding federal agencies, states, 774 local government areas, wards, and households.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice President Stanley Nkwocha said, the council mandated nutrition-relevant ministries to align their policies and budgets with the framework within 12 months and ordered all 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory to operationalize state multisectoral action plans within six to nine months.
According to Nkwocha, government also extended the deadline for a draft National Nutrition Bill by six weeks, requiring submission to the National Assembly within eight weeks.
On financing, the council expanded a sub-committee to include the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, state finance commissioners, and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria.
Vice President Shettima praised the identification of five funding streams—domestic, bilateral, multilateral, private sector, and innovative—and directed coordination with the Nutrition 774 Strategic Board to avoid overlaps.
To boost subnational buy-in, where only nine tate nutrition councils currently exist, Vice President Shettima instructed the Nigeria Governors’ Forum— through its secretariat and his office—to inaugurate the remaining 27 State councils and one for the FCT within three months.
Vice President Shettima noted the Nutrition 774 initiative as proof of the government’s commitment.
“Success will not be judged by federal announcements, but by coverage of interventions and household outcomes across all 774 local government areas,” he said, invoking children from Yobe to Bayelsa as the “face of this national assignment.”
The Vice President called the pending National Nutrition Bill essential to shield funding from political shifts and define obligations across government levels.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning Atiku Bagudu in his remarks thanked Vice President Shettima for elevating food security under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, with stakeholders endorsing the policy as a vital investment in human capital.
