Amid rising food insecurity affecting over 26.5 million Nigerians, national and regional stakeholders have pledged intensified, unified efforts to combat malnutrition across the country and West Africa.
At the Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) Civil Society Alliances Regional Workshop for West and Central Africa held in Lagos, Nigerian government officials, civil society actors, and international partners emphasized the urgency of turning policy into measurable impact.
Speaking at the event, Uju Rochas-Anwukah, Special Assistant to the President on Public Health and Nigeria’s SUN Focal Person, delivered a compelling call to action.
“Africa must stop managing malnutrition and start defeating it,” she said, urging leaders across the continent not to “stand aside and look.”
Rochas-Anwukah highlighted the Nutrition 774 Initiative, launched in February 2024, as a landmark shift in Nigeria’s nutrition policy landscape.
The initiative, endorsed by Vice President Kashim Shettima, brings together health, agriculture, education, WASH, and social protection sectors under a unified, results-based framework in all 774 local government areas.
“This is not a top-down policy, but a people-centred, bottom-up approach,” she said, stressing that funding is now directly linked to outcomes such as reduced child wasting and improved maternal health.
She described civil society as “the soul of this struggle,” capable of going where institutions fall short. Under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Rochas-Anwukah said civil society groups will now play a co-creative role in nutrition planning and implementation.
Her words: “When civil society becomes organized, visible, and bold, budgets shift, policies bend, and lives change.
“Follow the money. Count the children. Challenge the gaps. That is not rebellion—it is responsible patriotism.”
She further called for grassroots visibility and storytelling: “Data may tell the problem, but stories sell the solution. Let the world see the village in Kano that ended stunting. Let them hear the midwife’s voice in Borno who saved 200 babies.”
Also speaking at the workshop, Chairman of the House Committee on Nutrition and Food Security, Hon. Chike Okafor, described the country’s nutrition situation as “alarming and unacceptable.”
He reiterated the legislature’s commitment to strengthening policies, increasing funding, and ensuring effective implementation.
“This staggering number paints a bleak picture of our nation’s current nutrition and food security state.
“We are determined to change this narrative,” he said.
Okafor stressed the importance of strategic alliances among lawmakers, state governments, and civil society to scale impactful, nutrition-sensitive interventions.
He applauded CS-SUNN for its evidence-driven advocacy efforts that continue to highlight Nigeria’s most pressing nutrition gaps.
Representing the Lagos State Government, Dr. Oluwatoni Adeyemi, Senior Special Assistant on Health, reaffirmed Lagos’ commitment to nutrition as a foundation for human capital development.
She acknowledged the SUN Movement and civil society for championing cross-sector collaboration.
“Lagos is proud to host this convening of nutrition champions,” Adeyemi said, adding that the state is investing in innovative, data-driven partnerships to protect its most vulnerable.
Judith Kaboré, Country Action Specialist at the SUN Movement Secretariat in Dakar, painted a stark picture of the regional crisis.
“In just six Sahel countries, 6.9 million people suffer from global acute malnutrition, including 1.4 million severely malnourished,” she said. “These are not just numbers—they are lost lives and lost potential.”
Kaboré acknowledged the tireless work of civil society groups who continue to act despite funding limitations.
“That is what it means to work with heart and passion,” she said, calling on stakeholders to embrace introspection, build on progress, and align with the SUN 4.0 strategy for 2026–2030.
Mr. Sunday Okoronkwo, Executive Secretary of CS-SUNN, hailed the gathering as a symbol of pan-African solidarity.
“This gathering shows different parts of Africa coming together to combat a common enemy known as malnutrition,” he said.
While acknowledging the availability of proven interventions, he pointed to inadequate funding as a major barrier.
Okoronkwo praised the government’s grassroots-driven 774 project as a step in the right direction and called for stronger collective action to ensure that nutrition services reach every local community.
Supported by partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the workshop served as a platform to deepen collaboration, refine strategies, and build momentum for a malnutrition-free future in the region.
