Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima says Nigeria will accelerate work on a National Food and Nutrition Bill to protect nutrition financing, strengthen accountability and sustain interventions across successive administrations nationwide and beyond.
Speaking at the Nigeria-Ethiopia Nutrition Leadership Exchange Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where leaders discussed strategies for improving nutrition outcomes across Africa and national commitments nationwide, Shettima explained that the proposed legislation would strengthen the government’s Nutrition 774 Initiative and deepen a compact among federal, state and local governments for coordinated implementation nationwide and accountability nationwide.
According to him, this will deliver a unified response to malnutrition, beginning at the community level and reaching vulnerable mothers and children, while prioritising vulnerable households nationwide.
Shettima said that Nigeria’s National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026–2035 targeted stunting reduction to 32 per cent by 2029, 28 per cent by 2032 and 25 per cent by 2035, respectively.
He explained that with nutrition committees already established in 32 State Houses of Assembly, the time was ripe to give the country’s nutrition response stronger legislative backing for sustained implementation nationwide.
“We are convinced that, with nutrition committees in 32 state assemblies, there is no better time for us to accelerate the development of a National Food and Nutrition Bill.
“The advancement of a federal, state and local compact to protect financing and enforce accountability beyond administrations,” he said, stressing the need for commitment nationwide at every level of government.
Shettima said that nutrition committees had also been established in over 450 local governments to strengthen grassroots participation and improve implementation of nutrition programmes nationwide across all states and communities.
He disclosed that the Nigerian Government was strengthening state councils and delivery capacity across all levels of government to improve coordination and implementation of nutrition interventions across the federation.
According to him, Nigeria’s Nutrition 774 Initiative provides a single framework that brings together all tiers of government to lead implementation within their respective jurisdictions and ensure grassroots accountability nationwide effectively.
“Each council, being the lowest tier of our system, is our unit of planning, financing and accountability. We are working with states on costed plans for priority councils,” he said.
“Bringing health, agriculture, social protection, water, sanitation, hygiene and education to the same mother and child,” he said, describing the integrated approach to nutrition delivery through coordinated action across Nigeria effectively.
Shettima disclosed that Nigeria’s 26 million dollars commitment to the Child Nutrition Fund attracted matching support and unlocked 52 million dollars for nutrition interventions to expand access to essential support nationwide.
“While 21 states had contributed 6.3 million dollars since 2023 for supplies aimed at preventing and treating malnutrition,” he added, noting progress in domestic nutrition financing across states and communities nationwide.
He said the proposed Presidential Nutrition Investment Fund would provide catalytic financing, while the Nutrition Financing Subcommittee was working to mobilise additional domestic resources for nutrition programmes nationwide and strengthen implementation.
“We can only claim that our budget fulfils its purpose when it nourishes a child,” he said, emphasising the importance of linking public spending to nutrition outcomes and accountability across government.
Shettima said that the government was strengthening systems linking public expenditure to measurable nutrition outcomes through scorecards and stronger domestic financing mechanisms across all levels of government to strengthen accountability nationwide.
Earlier, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Mr Temesgen Tiruneh, said that the longstanding relationship between Nigeria and Ethiopia could help shape Africa’s development trajectory through shared experience and sustained political commitment.
He welcomed Nigeria’s interest in Ethiopia’s nutrition experience, noting that his country had placed food and nutrition at the centre of its development agenda and national strategy nationally for better outcomes.
According to him, improving nutrition requires sustained political leadership, financing and accountability at every level of government, backed by systems that track implementation and results effectively and sustainably at community level.
He explained that more than 100,000 children in Ethiopia have been protected from malnutrition through community mobilisation and improvements in the nutritional value of the food they eat,” Tiruneh said.
According to local media reports, Shettima and Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Tiruneh, held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the forum and reviewed shared interests and cooperation for deeper bilateral ties for growth.
Both leaders reviewed relations between Nigeria and Ethiopia and explored opportunities for deeper cooperation in trade, investment, food security, aviation and security, discussing practical steps for expanded collaboration and investment bilateral.
GIK/APA