By Reportcircle News
Nigeria’s quiet nutrition emergency has been dragged into the spotlight, and the Federal Government says the era of scattered responses is over.
At the 2025 National Micronutrient Conference in Abuja, the Federal Government on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping, coordinated offensive against micronutrient deficiency formally inaugurating a National Advisory Committee on Micronutrient Deficiency and Control and rolling out new policy frameworks aimed at tackling what experts call “hidden hunger” across the country.
For the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, CON, the message was blunt: Nigeria can no longer afford the economic and human cost of malnutrition.
“This administration is moving from fragmented nutrition efforts to a synchronized, evidence-driven national response,” Pate said. “Micronutrient deficiency is a silent but devastating threat to our human capital, productivity and future.”
The conference, themed “Strengthening Resilient Systems for Addressing Micronutrient Deficiencies in Nigeria,” brought together policymakers, development partners, health and agriculture experts, civil society groups and sub-national actors.
Their task: reset Nigeria’s nutrition agenda and turn years of data into decisive action.
Recent national surveys, Pate warned, paint a grim picture persistent anaemia, widespread vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and stubbornly high levels of child malnutrition.
“The evidence is clear,” he said. “Now we must act. Talk is cheap; results are what matter.”
At the centre of the new strategy is the National Advisory Committee, designed as a multi-sector command platform to track implementation, advise government, and close policy gaps using hard data from the Micronutrient Survey and the Demographic and Health Survey.
Pate disclosed that the government has already mobilised millions of doses of multiple micronutrient supplements for pregnant women, expanded nutrition services under the World Bank–supported Accelerating Results in Nigeria (ARIN) project, strengthened frontline health workers, and institutionalised nutrition demonstration corners in health facilities nationwide.
Food fortification, dietary diversification, supplementation and a stronger primary healthcare system, he said, are now the backbone of the government’s response particularly for women, children and underserved communities.
But he stressed that funding remains critical.
Calling ahead to the 2026 budget cycle, Pate urged federal, state and local governments to scale up investments, while appealing to households, communities and civil society to play their part.
“Nigeria has no business with hunger and malnutrition,” he said. “This must be a whole-of-government and whole-of-society effort.”
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, sharpened the urgency with hard numbers.
According to the 2024 Demographic and Health Survey, 40% of Nigerian children under five are stunted, 8% wasted, and 27% underweight.
“This is an invisible crisis with very visible consequences,” Salako said, warning that malnutrition continues to undermine education outcomes, workforce productivity and long-term national growth.
He described the conference as a turning point aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, aimed at confronting hidden hunger through inclusive, sustained and nationwide action.
The battle lines also extend beyond the health sector.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, reaffirmed that food security without nutrition is a hollow victory.
While acknowledging progress in food availability, he said micronutrient deficiency remains a major development challenge.
“Ensuring Nigerians have food is not enough,” Kyari said. “They must have nutritious food.”
He called for deeper collaboration between agriculture and health authorities to scale food fortification, nutrition-sensitive farming policies and access to nutrient-rich foods, while commending efforts to stabilise food prices.
Kyari praised the Health Ministry’s nutrition team for reviving the national micronutrient conference and reigniting political will around a crisis long ignored.
The conference also marked the launch of multiple strategic documents, including:
Roadmap for Scaling Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (2025–2029)
Micronutrient Supplementation Landscape Analysis Report
Nutrition in Emergencies Strategy
Knowledge Management and Learning Strategy
Together, the frameworks are designed to tighten coordination, strengthen accountability and ensure measurable results.
As the conference closed, the Federal Government struck a note of resolve: Nigeria’s nutrition challenge is no longer hidden, and the response will no longer be slow, fragmented or optional.
The war on hidden hunger, officials insist, has entered a decisive phase.
