Stakeholders Validate Costed Nutrition Plan To Address Malnutrition In Nigeria

As part of efforts to address the country’s persistent malnutrition crisis, stakeholders from various sectors have brainstormed on evidence-based action to improve nutrition outcomes and secure a healthier future for Nigeria’s children and communities.

The stakeholders gathered at a two-day validation workshop on Nutrition Intervention Costing and Maternity Protection, organised by the Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with Academic and Research Network, Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (ARN-SUNN), Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), and supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Speaking at the opening session, the National Coordinator of ARN-SUNN, Prof. Kola Matthew Anigo, explained that the meeting focused on two key research projects: a costing analysis of nutrition-specific interventions and a survey on maternity protection in Nigeria’s public and private sectors. Both studies were funded by UNICEF and conducted through the SUN platform.

Prof. Anigo highlighted the critical role of funding in effectively implementing nutrition-specific interventions, stating that “The costing analysis will help us estimate the resources needed to scale up nutrition interventions. It’s important that global recommendations are adapted to our local context.”

He noted that the validation exercise would ensure that the data and recommendations generated are evidence-based and applicable to Nigeria’s realities. “This is a multi-stakeholder meeting with participation from government agencies, civil society, academia, and NGOs. The diverse perspectives will help produce a robust report to guide policy and funding decisions,” he added.

The director and head of the Nutrition Department at the Federal Ministry of Health, Mrs. Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi, said that a death review conducted by the Academic Research Network provided critical insights into nutrition-related mortality. The findings, she said, were complemented by a separate survey assessing maternity protection practices across public and private workplaces in Nigeria.

“These two surveys; the death review and the maternity protection practice assessment, are expected to guide the ongoing transformation process of the Coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare, aimed at drastically reducing malnutrition rates in the country,” Bako-Aiyegbusi said.

She emphasised that bridging the persistent gaps in nutrition service delivery, particularly among health workers, remains a top priority. According to her, one of the reasons for the observed gaps in service quality is the lack of widespread training, especially in private healthcare facilities.

“Training has been limited mostly to public sector facilities. But with the institutionalisation of maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN) training practices in Nigeria, we are now expanding our focus to include health workers in private facilities,” she said.

Beyond frontline health providers, she noted that the ministry was engaging with professional regulatory bodies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. The goal, she said, is to integrate updated nutrition training into pre-service education curricula, ensuring future health workers acquire essential nutrition service skills right from their schooling.

Also speaking, the Programme Manager at CS-SUNN, Ridwan Awosanya, emphasised the urgency of addressing malnutrition with a clear, costed roadmap. “Malnutrition has remained a recurring challenge in Nigeria for decades. Between 1990 and now, the prevalence of stunting has hovered between 37 per cent and 40 per cent. It’s an embarrassing situation,” he said.

Awosanya lamented that Nigeria remains the country with the highest burden of malnutrition in Africa and the second globally. “To reverse this trend, we need a realistic and well-costed plan. That is why we are here to validate the costing done by ARN and ensure that it is accurate, practical, and can drive effective advocacy and action.”

The stakeholders are expected to review, refine, and endorse the cost estimates, with the goal of producing a final report that can guide nutrition financing and advocacy efforts in the country over the next five years.