ABUJA, Oct. 7, 2026 — The Federal Government is set to accelerate the development of a National Food and Nutrition Bill to safeguard nutrition funding, strengthen accountability and ensure continuity of interventions across successive administrations.
Vice President Kashim Shettima announced this on Wednesday at the Nigeria-Ethiopia Nutrition Leadership Exchange Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, saying the proposed legislation would provide stronger backing for the government’s Nutrition 774 Initiative.
He said the initiative was designed to establish a coordinated response to malnutrition involving the federal, state and local governments, with implementation beginning at the community level.
“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 and the advancement of a federal, state and local compact to protect financing and enforce accountability beyond administrations,” Shettima said.
The Vice President said nutrition committees had also been established in more than 450 local governments, while the Federal Government was strengthening state councils and delivery capacity across all levels of government.
He said Nigeria’s National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026–2035 had set targets to reduce the country’s stunting rate from its current level to 32 per cent by 2029, 28 per cent by 2032 and 25 per cent by 2035.
Shettima disclosed that Nigeria’s $26 million commitment to the Child Nutrition Fund had attracted matching support, bringing the total funding unlocked to $52 million.
He added that 21 states had contributed $6.3 million since 2023 towards supplies for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition.
According to him, 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 government was also introducing scorecards and other mechanisms to link public expenditure to measurable nutrition outcomes.
He said the urgency of addressing malnutrition was underscored by the fact that 40 per cent of Nigerian children under five were affected by stunting, while undernutrition was estimated to cost the Nigerian economy $56 billion annually.
“We act to protect learning. We act to preserve earnings. We act to project productivity,” Shettima said.
He also said the government was engaging food vendors, small and medium-sized enterprises, manufacturers, financiers and regulators to improve the availability and affordability of nutritious food.
The government, he added, was 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 continued cooperation between the two countries on nutrition.
Earlier, Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Temesgen Tiruneh, said the longstanding relationship between Nigeria and Ethiopia could contribute to shaping Africa’s development trajectory.
He said Ethiopia had placed food and nutrition at the centre of its development agenda, stressing that tackling malnutrition required sustained political leadership, financing and accountability at all levels of government.
Tiruneh said more than 100,000 children in Ethiopia 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 forum focused on child malnutrition and highlighted Ethiopia’s Seqota Declaration, the country’s commitment to ending child stunting by 2030.
She said poor nutrition could impair brain development, weaken educational performance, reduce future earnings and undermine economic growth.
“Investing in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life is among the most important investments a country can make,” Daba said.
She explained that Ethiopia’s approach recognised malnutrition as a multisectoral challenge requiring coordinated action beyond a single ministry.
Nigerian governors and ministers attending the forum pledged to strengthen the country’s nutrition value chain through increased investment in technology, financing, education and food systems.
Nigeria, Ethiopia seek stronger bilateral ties
On the sidelines of the nutrition forum, Shettima and Tiruneh held bilateral talks on ways to deepen cooperation between Nigeria and Ethiopia in trade, investment, food security, aviation and security.
Tiruneh expressed Ethiopia’s condolences to Nigeria over the recent air crash in Ondo State and said his country attached great importance to its relationship with Nigeria, particularly given the two countries’ positions as among Africa’s most populous nations.
He said Ethiopia’s decision to treat nutrition as an economic and development issue led to the launch of the 15-year Seqota Declaration in 2015, initially targeting communities most affected by malnutrition before expanding to about half of the country.
Tiruneh also welcomed progress on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement between the two countries and called for the convening of the Nigeria-Ethiopia Joint Commission.
He further commended growing private-sector cooperation, including investments by the Dangote Group in Ethiopia.
In response, Shettima reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening bilateral relations with Ethiopia, particularly in investment, agriculture, economic development and security.
He commended Ethiopia’s progress in agriculture and domestic value addition and called for increased intra-African investment under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The Vice President said Nigeria and Ethiopia, given their populations, resources and strategic positions, had a responsibility to provide leadership in unlocking Africa’s economic potential.
He said the continent’s youthful population and growing share of global economic growth presented an opportunity for both countries to deepen cooperation and drive Africa’s development.
