By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
In furtherance to ensuring a sustainable food security in Nigeria, the Federal Government, through the Office of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, recently organized a 2-day workshop on the Nutrition 774 Initiative, bringing together key stakeholders and local government leaders across the 774 local councils, to discuss critical issues on nutrition.
The theme of the workshop: “Strengthening Local Governance To Drive Grassroots For Nutrition” recently held in Niger State, with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria, CS-SUNN, Keller Foundation and ALGON, Association of Local Government of Nigeria.
While Speaking at the high-level engagement on the 774 Initiative workshop, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President, Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, called for urgent action on nutrition in Nigeria, noting that, the swelling number of cases of malnutrition has become a clog in National development.
Hadejia explained, that sustainable growth cannot be achieved when a significant segment of the country’s future workforce lacks access to adequate nutrition.
Speaking further, he stated that the Nutrition 774 Initiative, is a program that aims to transform every local government council, into a centre of coordinated actions against malnutrition, through multi-sectoral collaboration and local governance, to institutionalize nutrition-focused policies and implementation frameworks, “towards sustainable human development, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the N774 initiative adheres to a fundamental principle: development is most meaningful when it begins at the grassroots. “
“This program was conceived as a response to one of the gravest, yet least visible, challenges confronting our country, which is malnutrition, he stated.
According to him, the Nutrition 774 initiative is therefore a deliberate and strategic grassroots intervention targeting all 774 local government areas, LGAs, Nationwide, to change the malnutrition narratives in these areas.
“The Nutrition 774 initiative, a flagship program under the Office of the Vice President, was officially launched on February 20, 2025, by His Excellency, Senator Kashim Shettima, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
As part of the launch, a high level strategic board for the initiative was also inaugurated to guide its implementation and oversight.
“The program aims to transform each local council into a center of coordinated action against malnutrition, leveraging multi-sectoral collaboration and local governance to institutionalize nutrition-focused policies and implementation frameworks.”
“Towards sustainable human development, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the N774 initiative adheres to a fundamental principle: development is most meaningful when it begins at the grassroots, Hadejia explained. “
He described malnutrition not only as a health issue but as a multi-dimensional challenge that cuts across sectors like education, economic growth, and national security.
“The facts are sobering: over 40% of Nigerian children under the age of five are stunted, with severe consequences for cognitive development and future productivity.”
“We cannot and must not ignore this stark reality. Our economy cannot thrive when a significant portion of its future workforce is denied the foundational right to adequate nutrition.”
Hadejia expressed the need for localized solutions, especially at the grassroots level, which is the hotspot of severe malnutrition, adding that the solutions must be rooted in such areas.
However, he urged local government leaders to take ownership of the initiative, stressing the importance of establishing local food and nutrition committees, as well as underlining the allocation of resources in accordance with the urgency of the crisis and fostering collaboration across sectors such as health, agriculture, education, social welfare, and economic development.
“This meeting is an opportunity to align strategies ahead of upcoming state-level advocacy sessions. We must approach them with one voice, one plan, and a unified accountability framework,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Sampson Ebimaro, in his welcome address, reiterated the Federal government’s commitment to strengthening coordination of food and nutrition interventions across all sectors and levels of governance in the country.
Dr. Ebimaro also noted that the ministry, is ensuring effective collaboration between national and sub-national actors to tackle malnutrition in a sustainable and structured manner.
He revealed that since the launch of the N774 initiative, the Ministry has championed a series of engagements with key stakeholders, including the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and the Office of the Vice President, to facilitate seamless implementation of the framework at the grassroots level.
The UNICEF Nigeria, Chief of Nutrition, Nemat Hajeebhoy, in her presentation that in 26 states and the FCT, about 31 million people are currently food insecure, with projections suggesting that this figure could rise to 40 million Nationwide.
Furthermore, two out of every three children in Nigeria face child food poverty, lacking the basic dietary diversity necessary for healthy growth.
Hajeebhoy charged the National Executive Council of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON NEC) to take a leading role in advancing the Nutrition 774 initiative across all local governments. she urged the councils to take steps to ensure sustained and predictable financing, prioritize planning and implementation at the local level, and mobilize strong community engagement to drive lasting and impactful change in the fight against malnutrition.
The Program Manager at the Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria, CS-SUNN, Ridwan Awosanya, indicated the organization’s commitment to supporting the Nutrition 774 initiative.
He emphasized the need for the media to project actions taken to address malnutrition, such as the strategic pillars, and implementation mechanisms of the initiative, particularly its grassroots mechanisms.
According to him, the initiative goes beyond diagnosing the malnutrition crisis to implementing practical, multisectoral solutions that will improve food supply chains and nutrition outcomes.
“This is not just a campaign, it’s a coordinated program involving f
Federal and state-level ministries such as budget and economic planning, health, information, education, and agriculture,” Awosanya said.
“It also includes key development partners like UNICEF, Nutrition International, and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition.”
He urged media practitioners to become nutrition advocates by providing meaningful solutions to the malnutrition issues in the country, Awosanya added.
Daybreak reports that “The Nutrition 774 Initiative”, was an alignment workshop with the National Executive Council of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON NEC), held in Niger State.
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