NCN Approves National Food and Nutrition Policy 2026-2035

News in Brief

-The National Council on Nutrition has adopted a decade-long blueprint to end malnutrition through multi-sectoral action and government collaboration.

-Vice President Shettima emphasised grassroots impact, expanded financing sub-committee, and private sector nutrition challenge launch

The National Council on Nutrition (NCN) has formally adopted the National Policy on Food and Nutrition (NPFN) 2026-2035, directing the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning to submit it to the Federal Executive Council for ratification.

This decision was announced at the council's 15th virtual meeting, chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, following extensive stakeholder consultations involving public and private sector players. The policy emerges as a multi-sectoral, evidence-based framework aimed at tackling malnutrition and bolstering food security nationwide.

Policy Adoption and VP's Charge

Shettima hailed the NPFN 2026-2035 as the most consequential nutrition policy Nigeria has developed, noting that it is multi-sectoral by design, evidence-based by discipline, and grassroots by orientation.

He stressed that its ownership extends beyond any single ministry, declaring that it belongs to every ministry, every state, every LGA, every ward, and every household.

Summarising deliberations of the meeting, Shettima urged members to remember that every statistic discussed at the meeting represents a Nigerian child whose life chances are linked to what the government does or fails to do in the months ahead.

"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 in the 774 local government areas experience by 2035," he added.

Directives for Implementation

The council mandated nutrition-relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to align their sectoral policies, plans, and budgets with the NPFN within 12 months. It directed all 36 states and the FCT to operationalise State Multisectoral Plans of Action for Food and Nutrition within six to nine months. 

It further tasked the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) chair, via the secretariat and in coordination with the Vice President's Office, to establish State Councils on Nutrition in the remaining 27 states and the FCT within three months, building on the nine already operational. 

On private sector engagement, Shettima directed the creation of a co-branded private sector challenge window for nutrition, to launch within 60 days alongside the Dangote Foundation, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.

Legislative and Financing Advances

The council approved a six-week extension for drafting the National Nutrition Bill but reaffirmed its eight-week submission timeline to the National Assembly.

"This is the right room to draft this bill in, and it must protect nutrition financing from the uncertainties of political cycles", the vice president stated, while defining obligations across government tiers. 

For financing, the nutrition sub-committee was expanded to include the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Commissioners of Finance Forum, and ALGON, identifying five streams: domestic, bilateral, multilateral, private sector, and innovative. Shettima praised the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare's efforts and called for synergy with the Nutrition 774 Strategic Board to avoid mandate overlaps.

Stakeholder Contributions and Nutrition 774 Spotlight

Earlier, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Atiku Bagudu thanked Shettima for elevating food security and nutrition as national priorities, with the Permanent Secretary underscoring the policy as a strategic framework for human capital protection. Public and private stakeholders endorsed full alignment, viewing it as an optimal investment in children's futures. 

Underscoring the Nutrition 774 Initiative's role, Shettima affirmed the government's pragmatism in ending malnutrition.

"It reminds us that the success of our nutrition reform will not be judged by federal announcements, but by co-coverage of interventions and household outcomes across all 774 local government areas. From Yobe to Bayelsa, from Katsina to Cross River, from Nasarawa to Ebonyi, every Nigerian child must be seen as the face of this national assignment,” he stated.