Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for legislation to improve accountability and strengthen government interventions aimed at addressing nutrition challenges in Nigeria.
Vice President Kashim Shettima
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Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for the accelerated development of a National Food and Nutrition Bill to protect funding for nutrition programmes, strengthen accountability and ensure continuity of interventions beyond successive administrations.
He disclosed that Nigeria’s $26 million commitment to the Child Nutrition Fund had attracted matching support, effectively unlocking $52 million for nutrition interventions.
Shettima, who spoke in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said the proposed legislation would provide a stronger legal framework for Nigeria’s nutrition response and reinforce collaboration among the Federal, State and Local Governments in tackling malnutrition.
He said the legislation would complement the Federal Government’s Nutrition 774 Initiative, which places local governments at the centre of planning, financing and accountability for nutrition interventions.
The Vice President spoke yesterday at the Nigeria-Ethiopia Nutrition Leadership Exchange Forum, convened to share experiences and deepen cooperation on strategies for reducing child malnutrition.
Shettima said Nigeria’s National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026-2035 had established targets to reduce the country’s stunting rate to 32 per cent by 2029, 28 per cent by 2032 and 25 per cent by 2035.
He said the presence of nutrition committees in 32 State Houses of Assembly had created an opportunity to strengthen the legislative architecture for sustained investment in nutrition.
According to him, nutrition committees have also been established in more than 450 local government areas, while the Federal Government is working with states to strengthen implementation and delivery capacity.
Shettima said the Nutrition 774 Initiative was designed to provide a common framework for all three tiers of government, with governors and local government chairmen expected to lead implementation in their respective jurisdictions.
He added that 21 states had contributed $6.3 million since 2023 towards supplies for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition.
Shettima also announced plans for a Presidential Nutrition Investment Fund to provide catalytic financing for interventions, while the Nutrition Financing Subcommittee was working to mobilise additional domestic resources.
The Vice President said the government was also strengthening systems for linking public expenditure to measurable nutrition outcomes through scorecards, improved monitoring and stronger domestic financing.
He said the scale of the challenge required urgent action, noting that about 40 per cent of Nigerian children under five were affected by stunting, while undernutrition was estimated to cost the Nigerian economy $56 billion annually.
He further disclosed that the government was engaging food vendors, small and medium-sized enterprises, manufacturers, financiers and regulators under its Private Sector Engagement Framework to improve the availability and affordability of nutritious food.
The Federal Government, he said, was also working with industry and regulators to improve compliance with food fortification requirements covering salt, flour, edible oil and sugar.
Shettima said Nigeria and Ethiopia would work towards a joint statement outlining areas of continued cooperation on nutrition.
Earlier, Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Temesgen Tiruneh, who declared the forum open, said the longstanding relationship between Nigeria and Ethiopia could help shape Africa’s development trajectory.
Tiruneh welcomed Nigeria’s interest in Ethiopia’s nutrition experience, saying his country had placed food and nutrition at the centre of its development agenda.
