Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Nigeria will accelerate the development of a National Food and Nutrition Bill to protect nutrition funding and strengthen accountability across the three tiers of government.
Shettima made this known on Wednesday at the Nigeria-Ethiopia Nutrition Leadership Exchange Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
He saaid the proposed law would strengthen the Federal Government’s Nutrition 774 Initiative and ensure continuity of nutrition programmes beyond successive administrations.
The Vice President, in a statement by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, said the legislation had become necessary with nutrition committees already established in 32 state Houses of Assembly and more than 450 local governments.
“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,” Shettima said.
He said the legislation would help protect funding and enforce accountability through a stronger federal, state and local government framework.
Shettima said the Nutrition 774 Initiative was designed to provide a unified framework for tackling malnutrition at the grassroots.
“Each Council, being the lowest tier of our system, is our unit of planning, financing and accountability,” he said.
The Vice President said the Federal Government was working with states on costed plans that would integrate health, agriculture, social protection, water, sanitation, hygiene and education.
He disclosed that Nigeria’s $26m commitment to the Child Nutrition Fund had attracted matching support, bringing the total to $52m.
He added that 21 states had contributed $6.3m since 2023 towards supplies for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition.
Shettima said the proposed Presidential Nutrition Investment Fund would provide catalytic financing, while the Nutrition Financing Subcommittee would mobilise additional domestic resources.
“We can only claim that our budget fulfils its purpose when it nourishes a child,” he said.
The Vice President said the urgency of tackling malnutrition was underscored by the estimated 40 per cent stunting rate among Nigerian children under five.
He also put the annual economic cost of undernutrition in Nigeria at about $56bn.
“We act to protect learning. We act to preserve earnings. We act to project productivity,” Shettima stated.
He said the Federal Government was also engaging food vendors, manufacturers, small and medium enterprises, financiers and regulators to improve the availability and affordability of nutritious food.
Shettima added that the government was working with industry and regulators to strengthen compliance with food fortification requirements for salt, flour, edible oil and sugar.
He said Nigeria and Ethiopia would work towards a joint statement to strengthen cooperation on nutrition.
“Nigeria and Ethiopia owe Africa an example worthy of its children,” the Vice President said.
Earlier, Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Temesgen Tiruneh, said sustained political leadership, financing and accountability were critical to addressing malnutrition.
He said Ethiopia’s experience showed that tackling malnutrition required coordinated action across government and communities.
Tiruneh disclosed that more than 100,000 Ethiopian children had been protected from malnutrition through community mobilisation and improvements in the nutritional value of food.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Health, Dr Mekdes Daba, said the country had placed nutrition at the centre of its development agenda through the Seqota Declaration, which seeks to end child stunting by 2030.
“Stunting affects far more than a child’s physical growth,” Daba said.
She stressed that poor nutrition could affect brain development, educational outcomes, future earnings and economic growth.
The Nigerian delegation included governors, ministers and senior government officials, who pledged to strengthen investment in nutrition, technology, education and food systems.
On the sidelines of the forum, Shettima also held bilateral talks with Tiruneh on Nigeria-Ethiopia relations, including trade, investment, food security, aviation and security.
Both sides also discussed the Nigeria-Ethiopia Joint Commission and opportunities for stronger private-sector cooperation.
Shettima said Nigeria and Ethiopia had a responsibility to use their population, resources and strategic positions to contribute to Africa’s development.
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