The Federal Government, in collaboration with the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNi), has moved to reposition the Nutrition 774 Initiative as a major driver of food industrialisation, MSME development, private investment and job creation across Nigeria.
The initiative will see the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) develop a Unified “Trade” Sector Nutrition Strategic Plan and conduct a nationwide mapping of private-sector capabilities to identify bottlenecks and unlock investment and local value addition across the food and nutrition value chain.
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 Federal Government was shifting the perception of nutrition from being primarily a health or humanitarian concern to recognising it as an industrial and economic priority with implications for productivity, enterprise development, domestic manufacturing and wealth creation.
He said the proposed strategic plan would align with the National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026–2035, Nigeria Industrial Policy and the Vice President’s Nutrition 774 Initiative, while promoting stronger collaboration among relevant government agencies.
According to him, Nigeria’s agricultural resources, including cassava, legumes, cocoa, oil palm, cashew and biofortified crops, provide the raw materials required to build competitive domestic food industries and produce affordable, nutritious and high-value products.
The minister called for targeted technical assistance, modern processing equipment and accessible financing to enable MSMEs to expand, while identifying Cluster Facility Centres as important platforms for improving food processing, hygienic handling, packaging and quality standards.
He also urged food manufacturers to integrate nutrition into their commercial strategies through increased use of locally sourced and biofortified raw materials, improved product formulations and expanded production of affordable fortified foods.
Enoh further called on financial institutions to provide affordable, long-term financing tailored to food-processing MSMEs, while urging development partners and regulatory agencies to strengthen technical assistance, quality assurance, accountability and local procurement.
He stressed that converting Nigeria’s agricultural resources into industrial value would create stronger markets for farmers, expand opportunities for women and young people, generate employment and strengthen domestic manufacturing.
The Permanent Secretary of FMITI, Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu, described nutrition as an economic and industrial priority with significant implications for enterprise development, investment, trade, productivity and national wellbeing.
Isokpunwu said meaningful progress would require active private-sector participation, given the sector’s investment capacity, innovation, production networks and market reach.
He said the roundtable was aimed at identifying opportunities and bottlenecks across the nutrition value chain, mapping private-sector capabilities and developing practical pathways towards a broader national platform under the MarketFit Nutrition 2035 framework.
The Permanent Secretary urged stakeholders to move beyond commitments to concrete investments, incentives and measurable interventions capable of creating markets for Nigerian farmers, strengthening domestic industries, attracting investment and generating jobs.
Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Nutrition, Mrs. Uju Vanstasia Anwukah, said nutrition remained a major priority of the Federal Government and stressed that sustainable economic development required a healthy and productive population.
Anwukah explained that the Nutrition 774 Initiative provides a governance and accountability framework for tackling malnutrition across Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas through coordinated action involving governments at all levels, the private sector, development partners and communities.
She called for a new model of private-sector participation in which businesses go beyond corporate social responsibility and philanthropy to become investors, innovators and strategic partners in developing sustainable nutrition solutions.
The Executive Director of ATNi, Greg Garrett, also called for nutrition to be placed at the centre of Nigeria’s industrial and economic development agenda.
Garrett said tackling malnutrition required coordinated action across the food system, from farming and processing to manufacturing, distribution and consumption.
He noted that Nigeria’s agricultural resources and large consumer market offered significant opportunities for expanding local food processing and value addition while strengthening linkages between farmers and manufacturers.
He advocated stronger adherence to national and international standards in food production, fortification and quality assurance, stressing that nutritious food must be commercially viable and accessible to consumers.
The high-level engagement brought together government officials, private-sector leaders, manufacturers, financial institutions, regulatory agencies, development partners and technical experts to examine practical strategies for integrating nutrition into Nigeria’s industrial and commercial ecosystem.
The engagement reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to building a stronger domestic food industry capable of converting Nigeria’s agricultural wealth into industrial value, expanding MSME opportunities, strengthening local production and supporting improved nutrition, employment and economic growth.
