Officially launched in 2025, Nutrition 774 Initiative, is considered the first government-led intervention in Nigeria aimed at tackling malnutrition among elementary school pupils on a broader scale.
According to the minister of education, Tunji Alausa, “schools must play a greater role in tackling malnutrition among children, identifying school feeding, school health, nutrition education and improved access to quality education as key education components of the Nutrition 774 Initiative.”
Speaking recently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during the Ethiopia–Nigeria Leadership Exchange on Moving the Needle on Nutrition, Alausa called for stronger collaboration among government ministries and across the three tiers of government to ensure that nutrition interventions reached children and families at the community level.
The minister said tackling malnutrition requires coordinated action across education, health, agriculture, planning and other relevant sectors, supported by clear responsibilities, adequate financing and effective monitoring.
He also noted that the Nutrition 774 Initiative provides an opportunity to translate national nutrition priorities into practical interventions across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, with support directly targeted at children, families and communities that need it most.
Education, Alausa said, “is central to this effort because children’s nutrition, health, learning and overall development are closely interconnected.”
He identified school feeding as one of the practical ways the education sector can contribute to improving children’s nutrition, while encouraging regular school attendance, explaining further that linking school feeding with school participation could help address some of the barriers that prevent children from attending and remaining in school.
The minister also highlighted the integration of nutrition-related studies into Nigeria’s revised school curriculum as an important step towards equipping children with knowledge of healthy eating, nutrition, wellbeing and healthy lifestyles.
Alausa reiterated that the federal ministry of education’s proposed contribution to the Nutrition 774 Initiative includes school feeding, school health, nutrition education and measures to strengthen access to quality education and school participation.
He added that these interventions are expected to form part of local governments’ multisectoral plans of action for food and nutrition, with relevant education indicators proposed for inclusion in the initiative’s local government scorecards.
The minister underscored the importance of ensuring that all children had access to adequate nutrition and the educational opportunities necessary for healthy growth and development, noting that education remains an important component of the broader response to child malnutrition.
He stressed that keeping children in school, improving the quality of learning and creating supportive school environments can contribute to better health, nutrition and developmental outcomes.
Alausa said the ministry’s proposed interventions are aligned with the national policy on food and nutrition, which aims to increase school-feeding coverage from 33 per cent to 60 per cent of primary-school children by 2035.
He also called for greater attention to early childhood care and development beyond the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, stressing the need to sustain support through the wider period of early growth and development when children’s nutritional, health and developmental needs remain critical.
The minister further identified reliable and integrated data as essential to effective planning and delivery of nutrition interventions, adding that “better integration of relevant government data would help authorities identify children and communities requiring support, improve planning and determine whether interventions are reaching their intended beneficiaries.”
He further stressed that national policies must be backed by effective implementation at state and local government levels, with clear targets and appropriate monitoring arrangements.
According to him, the proposed inclusion of education-related indicators in the Nutrition 774 local government scorecard would strengthen accountability and help track the education sector’s contribution to improved nutrition outcomes.
Alausa welcomed the opportunity to learn from Ethiopia’s experience in coordinating nutrition interventions and mobilising domestic resources, noting that the leadership exchange provided Nigerian officials with an opportunity to examine approaches that could inform the country’s efforts, while stressing that relevant lessons must be adapted to Nigeria’s specific circumstances.
He also emphasised that sustained progress in reducing malnutrition would require effective collaboration, appropriate financing and stronger implementation arrangements across the relevant sectors.
The minister reaffirmed the federal ministry of education’s commitment to working with relevant ministries, state governments, local government authorities and development partners to advance education-related interventions under the Nutrition 774 Initiative.
Alausa assured Nigerians that the ministry would continue to align its policies and programmes with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly its focus on human capital development and creating better opportunities for children and young people.
He said that improving children’s nutrition and access to quality education is essential to building a healthier, better-educated and more productive population, stressing that stronger school-based nutrition interventions, effective school feeding, nutrition education, improved school health services and closer multisectoral collaboration would contribute significantly to improved child wellbeing and development.
The minister also emphasised the ministry’s commitment to ensuring that education remains an integral part of Nigeria’s response to malnutrition and to supporting initiatives that enable every Nigerian child to learn, grow, remain healthy and fulfil their potential.
