Nigeria nutritional strain and the burden of poverty

For many households across Nigeria, the current socioeconomic realities bite harder than ever imagined. Many Nigerians are grappling with a quiet crisis of nutritional strain with millions facing stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, and rising obesity.

This is so because the government’s economic reforms have cut if not eliminated their sources of livelihood to a level now referred to as multi-dimensional poverty by the World Bank and other development agencies.

On the back of this, many go to bed with empty stomachs, while some struggle to get nutritious food – where available because it is expensive and inaccessible, thereby threatening the health, learning, and productivity of the country’s youthful population.

Children underperform in class, adults miss work, and healthcare costs climb out of reach for the average working-class Nigerians. Fixing the country’s nutritional strain means looking beyond food aid to stronger food systems, affordable nutrition, and better education on healthy living.

According to the Global nutrition report tagged, ‘The burden of malnutrition at a glance,’ Nigeria is ‘on course’ to meet one of the global nutrition targets for which there was sufficient data to assess progress.

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However, it indicated that no progress has been made towards achieving the target of reducing anaemia among women of reproductive age, with 55.1 percent of women aged 15 to 49 years now affected.

Nigeria has shown limited progress towards achieving the diet-related non-communicable disease (NCD) targets. About 15.7 percent of adult (aged 18 years and over) women and 5.9 percent of adult men are living with obesity.

According to the report, Nigeria’s obesity prevalence is lower than the regional average of 20.8 percent for women and 9.2 percent for men. At the same time, diabetes is estimated to affect 6.8 percent of adult women and 7.5 percent of adult men.

The Nutrition 774 initiative

For decades, nutrition has been treated as a narrow, sectoral issue—predominantly the responsibility of the health system, while malnutrition appears multisectoral in nature. Its determinants span food security and agricultural productivity, access to safe water and sanitation, education, gender equality, and the adequacy of social protection systems.

In response to Nigeria’s nutritional strain, the Nutrition 774 Initiative, launched in the first quarter of 2025 by the Federal Government, to embody the principle of integration as a government-led and community-driven nutrition effort to ensure that nutrition is optimally implemented across all 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria.

The initiative is structured to operate from the bottom up, empowering local governments and communities to identify context-specific priorities and co-design interventions suited to their unique challenges.

Anchored in the goal of reducing malnutrition and food insecurity by half in 2030, the N774 Initiative connects interventions across health, agriculture, education, social protection, and WASH systems.

The National Policy on Food and Nutrition driven by the multisectoral programming of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement provides the coordination framework underpinning the multisectoral approach.

The national council on nutrition, chaired by the vice president Kashim Shettima, offers high-level strategic direction, while SUN-supported reforms have strengthened leadership and governance across MDAs.

The N774 Initiative both draws on and reinforces the framework by demonstrating how integration can succeed at local level.

“The early lessons emerging from the Nutrition 774 Initiative suggest that national commitments are most effective when matched with local ownership,” Okoro Clementina Ebere, director, nutrition, food and nutrition department, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Nigeria, stated in an article titled,‘The Nutrition 774 (N774) Initiative: Nigeria’s scale up approach to nutrition integration.”

However, achieving lasting impact requires a collective approach as the government alone cannot eliminate malnutrition; hence, success depends on strong partnerships across civil society, academia, the private sector, youth groups, and development agencies.

How Nestle is breaking the circle

Nestlé Nigeria recently convened stakeholders for the 2026 Nestlé for Good summit to advance nutrition, community, and sustainable food systems agenda. The summit provided a timely forum for cross-sector dialogue on how to drive meaningful and scalable impact, at a time when Nigeria continues to navigate evolving nutrition, public health, and food system challenges.

Held in Lagos, the summit brought together key stakeholders with discussions centered on practical pathways to improving nutrition across the life stages, strengthening local food systems, and building more resilient communities.

As Nigeria continues to address complex nutrition and development challenges, Nestlé Nigeria remains committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders to drive practical solutions that improve quality of life at scale. Participants explored the role of partnerships in addressing interconnected challenges spanning nutrition, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability.

“The conversations we are having today are not only about food. They are about human capital, productivity, public health, economic growth, and ultimately, the future of our society,” Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, said in a keynote address.

She also underscored the importance of sustained collaboration across government, industry, development institutions, and communities in delivering improved nutrition outcomes at scale.

Wassim Elhusseini, the managing director and chief executive officer of Nestlé Nigeria, said the summit reflects Nestlé’s long-standing belief that creating shared value is fundamental to how the company operates. According to him, Nestlé for Good provides a clearer, more connected expression of how the company delivers impact across nutrition, thriving communities, and the planet.

“Delivering good food consistently and at scale depends on strong systems across the value chain — from responsible sourcing and manufacturing to distribution, livelihoods, capability development, and environmental sustainability.”

A key feature of the Summit was an impact showcase, where participants engaged with real stories of beneficiaries connected to Nestlé’s initiatives in women empowerment, youth capability development, dairy development, and environmental sustainability.

The stories illustrated how targeted interventions across the value chain are contributing to improved livelihoods, stronger communities, and more sustainable practices.

The summit also provided an opportunity for stakeholders to experience how Nestlé’s products and initiatives contribute to nutrition, livelihoods, and sustainability across different stages of the food system.

The Nestlé for Good Summit marks an important step in deepening dialogue and strengthening partnerships that can translate into measurable progress. “Nestlé for Good is not simply about showcasing individual initiatives,” said Victoria Uwadoka, corporate communications, public affairs and sustainability lead at Nestlé Nigeria.

She noted that the platform helps bring together the full scope of Nestlé’s impact. It is about demonstrating how our products, sourcing, partnerships, and community investments connect in practical ways to support healthier lives and more resilient communities,” Uwadoka said.

Patricia Ekaba, head, corporate communications, public affairs and sustainability for Central and West Africa, highlighted the importance of long-term, system-focused initiative. “Sustainable progress requires looking beyond short-term interventions. Business growth and social progress are interconnected, and lasting impact comes from creating value for both the business and the communities it serves.”