By Maryanne Awuya
The Federal Government has partnered with the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNi) to transform Nigeria’s food landscape through the Nutrition 774 Initiative an effort designed to accelerate industrialization, strengthen MSMEs, unlock private funding, and create employment.
Key to this execution is the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), which will build a Unified “Trade” Sector Nutrition Strategic Plan and execute a national mapping initiative to evaluate private-sector strength, resolve critical value chain gaps, and catalyze local value addition.
The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at a High-Level Private Sector Roundtable Engagement on Nutrition, themed “Nutrition as a Critical Lever of Nigeria’s Food Industrialization and MSME Competitiveness.”
Enoh said the government was shifting the conversation around nutrition from being solely a health or humanitarian issue to recognising it as an economic and industrial priority.
“Nigeria’s challenges of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and diet-related diseases required coordinated action involving government, farmers, manufacturers, financial institutions, regulators, development partners and communities,” he said.
According to him, the private sector has a critical role to play because of its involvement in the production, processing, packaging, distribution and marketing of food consumed across the country.
The Minister said the proposed Trade Sector Nutrition Strategic Plan would align with the National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026–2035, the Nigeria Industrial Policy and the Vice President’s Nutrition 774 Initiative.
He identified cassava, legumes, cocoa, oil palm, cashew and biofortified crops among Nigeria’s agricultural resources that could provide raw materials for competitive domestic food industries.
Enoh called for technical assistance, modern processing equipment and affordable financing to help MSMEs expand their operations.
He also identified Cluster Facility Centres as platforms that could strengthen capacity in food processing, hygienic handling, packaging and compliance with quality standards.
The Minister urged food manufacturers to increase the use of locally sourced and biofortified raw materials, improve product formulations and expand the production of affordable fortified foods.
He also called on financial institutions to develop affordable, long-term financing options for food-processing MSMEs, while urging development partners and regulatory agencies to strengthen technical assistance, quality assurance and local procurement.
Enoh said converting Nigeria’s agricultural resources into industrial value would create markets for farmers, expand opportunities for women and young people, generate employment and strengthen domestic manufacturing.
He stressed that achieving nutrition security required coordinated action across government and society.
The Permanent Secretary of FMITI, Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu, described nutrition as an economic and industrial priority with implications for enterprise development, investment, trade, productivity and national wellbeing.
Isokpunwu said the private sector remained essential to achieving meaningful progress because of its investment capacity, innovation, production networks and market reach.
He commended the Office of the Vice President for its leadership of the Nutrition 774 Initiative and acknowledged the support of development partners, including the World Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GIZ, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the UK FCDO.
The Permanent Secretary said the roundtable was designed to identify opportunities and bottlenecks across the nutrition value chain, map private-sector capabilities and develop practical pathways under the MarketFit Nutrition 2035 framework.
He urged stakeholders to move beyond commitments to concrete investments, incentives and measurable interventions that could create markets for Nigerian farmers, strengthen domestic industries, attract investment and generate jobs.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Nutrition, Mrs. Uju Vanstasia Anwukah, conveyed the greetings of the Vice President and Chairman of the National Council on Nutrition, Senator Kashim Shettima, and commended FMITI for organising the engagement.
Anwukah said nutrition remained a priority of the Federal Government, noting that sustainable economic development required a healthy and productive population.
She said the Nutrition 774 Initiative provides a framework for addressing malnutrition across Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas through coordinated action involving the Federal, State and Local Governments, private sector, development partners and communities.
She also said that malnutrition affects not only health but also education, workforce productivity, economic growth and national competitiveness.
Anwukah called for greater private-sector participation beyond corporate social responsibility and philanthropy, urging businesses to also act as investors, innovators and strategic partners in developing sustainable nutrition solutions.
The Executive Director of ATNi, Greg Garrett, also called for nutrition to become an integral part of Nigeria’s industrial and economic development agenda.
Garrett said addressing malnutrition required action across the entire food system, from farming and processing to manufacturing, distribution and consumption.
He said Nigeria’s agricultural resources and large consumer market provide opportunities for expanding local food processing and value addition, while strengthening links between farmers and manufacturers.
According to him, increased local sourcing of agricultural raw materials could stimulate domestic value chains, create markets for farmers, attract investment and generate employment.
He also called for stronger adherence to national and international standards in food production, fortification and quality assurance.
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