By, Olawale Ogunbusola
The National Council on Nutrition (NCN) has approved Nigeria’s National Policy on Food and Nutrition (NPFN) 2026-2035, setting the stage for its transmission to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for final ratification.

The Council also directed all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to establish functional State Councils on Nutrition within three months, as part of efforts to deepen sub-national ownership of nutrition interventions.

The decisions were reached at the Council’s 15th meeting, held virtually and chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

The newly adopted policy, described as a comprehensive and multi-sectoral framework, is expected to guide Nigeria’s nutrition and food security interventions over the next decade.

Summarising the outcome of the meeting, the Vice President emphasised the human impact of policy decisions, noting that behind every statistic discussed “is a Nigerian child whose life chances are shaped by what government does or fails to do.”

“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 across the 774 local government areas experience by 2035,” he said.

Shettima described the NPFN as “the most consequential nutrition policy this country has produced,” stressing that it is evidence-based, grassroots-driven and cuts across sectors.

According to him, the policy is not limited to a single ministry but belongs to “every ministry, every state, every local government, every ward, and every household represented in the work of this Council.”

The Council mandated the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning to transmit the policy to FEC, while directing all relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to align their programmes, plans and budgets with its provisions within 12 months.

It further instructed states and the FCT to operationalise their multisectoral plans of action on food and nutrition within six to nine months.

On legislation, the Council approved a six-week extension for the submission of a draft National Nutrition Bill but insisted that the bill must be transmitted to the National Assembly within eight weeks.

The Vice President said the proposed law would provide the legal framework to safeguard nutrition financing and define responsibilities across federal, state and local governments.

In a move to strengthen funding, the Council expanded the nutrition financing sub-committee to include the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, the Commissioners of Finance Forum, and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON).
Shettima noted that the sub-committee would coordinate closely with the Nutrition 774 Strategic Board to ensure synergy and avoid duplication of roles.

To boost private sector participation, the Council approved the establishment of a co-branded nutrition intervention window to be launched within 60 days, in partnership with the Dangote Foundation and relevant government ministries.

On implementation, the Vice President highlighted the central role of the Nutrition 774 Initiative, describing it as a practical framework for delivering nutrition interventions across all 774 local government areas.