Senegalese Officials Undertake Learning Visit To Nigeria On Nutrition Budgeting

Nigeria’s pioneering approach to nutrition-responsive budgeting has attracted regional attention, as a high-level delegation from Senegal undertook a five-day learning exchange in Abuja themed “Nigeria Experience: Nutrition Response Budgeting.”

The objective is to strengthen the technical and strategic capacities of Senegalese key actors through an exchange of experience with Nigerian institutions on the implementation of a system for nutrition budget tagging and tracking.

The workshop, midwifed by the World Bank, the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project, and the Global Financial Faculty, brought together policymakers and technical experts to deepen collaboration on embedding nutrition into public financial management systems.

Since 2022, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, with World Bank support, has introduced reforms that integrate nutrition into budgeting processes nationwide. What began as a pilot in 11 states has now been scaled across ministries, departments, and agencies, with nutrition budget tagging enabling systematic tracking of allocations, releases, and expenditures.

Officials say the exchange has strengthened transparency, improved spending efficiency, and provided evidence for policy dialogue, donor alignment, and advocacy under the National Multisectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition (NMPFAN).

Speaking during the exchange, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, described the reform as a turning point for accountability in nutrition financing. “Nutrition budgeting allows governments to track allocations, releases, and expenditures, identify gaps against national nutrition plans, and ensure resources reach those most in need,” he said.

“It provides an evidence base for domestic resource mobilization. Ultimately, it builds public trust and ensures scarce resources are deployed to strengthen human capital development.”

For Senegal, the visit marked a crucial step in its own reform journey. The country said it has prioritized nutrition under its Multisectoral Nutrition Strategic Plan (PSMN 2024–2028), but spending remains fragmented across several ministries. Without consolidated monitoring, Senegalese policymakers acknowledge that transparency and coordination are limited.

The West African nation is therefore working with technical and financial partners to introduce a nutrition marker into its Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS). Planned steps include validating a feasibility study, defining marking procedures, building ministerial capacities, and creating systems for consolidated reporting.

Against this backdrop, the Abuja visit allowed Senegalese officials to engage with Nigerian institutions on the practicalities of nutrition budget tagging, including integration with IFMIS, expenditure classification, and monitoring tools.

Sessions featured deep dives on policy frameworks, tagging methodologies, and lessons from Nigeria’s nationwide rollout. Practical exercises also highlighted how tagging strengthens policy dialogue, on-budget donor alignment, and results-based financing.

The acting Permanent Secretary of Nigeria’s Budget Ministry, Mr. Sampson Ebimaro, cautioned that tagging was only one step in the process. “After budget, what next? Are the budgets released? And if they are released, how do we translate that at the grassroots level for those who prepare meals for us to eat?” he asked. “If budget targeting does not translate into improved nutrition outcomes, then we have not achieved much.”

He stressed the importance of internal resource mobilization and country ownership. “Support from partners is only catalytic. Ultimately, no one else can carry your burden. The responsibility lies with us to mobilize resources internally and ensure that nutrition budgets deliver impact at the community level,” he said.

Senior health specialist and team lead for ANRiN, World Bank, Ritgak Tilley-Gyado said the exchange underscored a shared West African commitment to advancing nutrition financing as a cornerstone of human capital and job creation. By linking Nigeria’s experience with Senegal’s reform process, she said, the visit would contribute to shaping a regional model of transparency, accountability, and impact in nutrition spending. “Let us continue this exchange. We will send Envoy to Senegal to Kickstart the institutionalisation of nutrition in your country,” she said.

Leader of the Senegalese delegation, Mamoudou Niang said “going from here, my team would prioritize multi-sectoral engagement, advocacy, capacity building and the incorporation of nutrition into our national budgeting process.”

At the close of the workshop, participants emphasized the need for continuous collaboration and future peer-to-peer reviews to assess progress. “Our brothers and sisters from Senegal have learned from empirical evidence here in Nigeria that they can take back home,” Mr. Ebimaro remarked. “And we also hope to continue this dialogue in the coming years to evaluate how far we have gone.”

The exchange, stakeholders agreed, not only reinforced Nigeria’s position as a regional leader in nutrition financing but also signaled the growing momentum across West Africa to anchor public finance reforms in the broader fight against malnutrition.