Vice President Kashim Shettima has unveiled the framework for the federal government’s comprehensive vision for a nationwide nutrition programme to address malnutrition and food insecurity in Nigeria.
Stanley Nkwocha, a presidential aide made this known in Tuesday.
The proposed programme, “Nutrition 774 Initiative,” aims to improve nutritional outcomes across all 774 local government areas (LGAs) in the country.
Speaking on Tuesday during a roundtable with development partners at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Shettima said the initiative aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s broader 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,” Shetima said.
“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,” the Vice President stated.
It would be recalled that the 144th meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) had in September endorsed the Nutrition 774 programme as a primary platform for combating malnutrition within Nigerian communities.
The Council encouraged development partners to provide financial and technical assistance to support this initiative.
Shettima 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.
VP Shettima explained that the proposed Nutrition 774 Initiative adopts a grassroots-driven approach, empowering local actors to take charge of nutritional improvements in their communities as well as investment 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 noted.
The Vice President further noted that while Nigeria grapples with recent floods and global inflationary pressures affecting food security, “our response must not only be innovative, it must also address these 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 added.
In the same vein, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Ndiamé Diop, said the vision for the Nutrition 774 Grassroots Initiative is compelling, just as the diagnosis is right, with the framework aligning with global evidence in the sector.
Pledging the World Bank’s full support for the programme, the Country Director noted that the bank already has ongoing programmes that are fit-for-purpose in supporting the initiative.
He emphasized the need for prompt mobilisation of finance across stakeholders in the private and public sector to ensure sustainability of the programme.
On her part, USAID Mission Director in Nigeria, Melissa Jones, said the crisis of malnutrition exacerbated by natural disasters, among other challenges, would require bold leadership in the humanitarian assistance space for them to be addressed.
Noting that USAID aligns with the values and objectives outlined in the Nutrition 774 Grassroots Initiative, she emphasized the need for stakeholders to synergize efforts and work as a group, even as she commended the government’s initiative in prioritizing local government administration in the framework of the programme.
