The Federal Executive Council (FEC) is now set to ratify the National Policy on Food and Nutrition (NPFN), 2026-2035, following its adoption by the National Council on Nutrition (NCN).
This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by Mr. Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President).
The NCN, at its 15th meeting held virtually and chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, approved the 10-year policy and directed the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning to forward the document to the FEC for final ratification. The approval followed a painstaking validation process by critical stakeholders in Nigeria’s nutrition sector, including public and private sector sponsors.
Summarising the Council’s decision, Vice President Shettima urged members to remember that behind every statistic discussed is “a Nigerian child whose life chances are being written by what” the government does or fails to do in the months ahead.
“We will be judged not by our deliberations but by our deliveries. Not by what we decided in April 2026, but by what mothers and children in the 774 local government areas experience by 2035,” the Vice President added.
Senator Shettima described the NPFN 2026-2035 as “the most consequential nutrition policy this country has produced,” stating that it is “multi-sectoral by design, evidence-based by discipline, and grassroots by orientation.
”He continued: “It is not a Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning document. It is not a Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare document. It belongs to every Ministry, every State, every LGA, every ward, and every household represented in the work of this Council.
”The Council also directed that all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) operationalise their State Multisectoral Plans of Action for Food and Nutrition within six to nine months. Furthermore, every nutrition-relevant Ministry, Department, and Agency is to align its sectoral policies, plans, and budgets with the provisions of the NPFN within twelve months.
On sub-national ownership, the Council directed the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, working through the NGF secretariat and in coordination with the Office of the Vice President, to lead the establishment and inauguration of State Councils on Nutrition in the remaining 27 States and the FCT within the next three months. Currently, only nine of the 36 states have functioning nutrition councils.
The Vice President also highlighted the Nutrition 774 Initiative as proof that the government is pragmatic and fully ready to end malnutrition.“From Yobe to Bayelsa, from Katsina to Cross River, from Nasarawa to Ebonyi, every Nigerian child must be seen as the face of this national assignment,” he said.
In a major push for legislative backing, the Council approved an extension of six weeks for the submission of a draft bill on National Nutrition, and directed that the final draft must be transmitted to the National Assembly within eight weeks.
The Vice President noted that the proposed law “must protect nutrition financing from the uncertainties of political cycles” and “define obligations across federal, state, and local governments.
”On nutrition financing, the NCN approved the inclusion of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the Commissioners of Finance Forum, and ALGON in the relevant sub-committee.
The Vice President also directed the establishment of a co-branded private sector challenge window for nutrition, to be activated within sixty days in coordination with the Dangote Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.
Earlier, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, thanked the Vice President for his leadership in elevating food security and nutrition as a national priority.
Stakeholders and partners in the public and private sectors expressed full alignment with the policy, noting that it is the best way to invest in a child’s life anywhere in the world.
Discussion about this post