The Federal Government is positioning the Nutrition 774 Initiative as a driver of food industrialisation, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) growth, private investment and job creation across Nigeria.
Under the plan, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) will develop a unified Trade Sector Nutrition Strategic Plan and conduct a national mapping of private-sector capabilities to identify bottlenecks across the food and nutrition value chain.
The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, disclosed this on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at a high-level private-sector roundtable on nutrition in Abuja, according to a statement issued by the Head of Press and Public Relations, FMITI, Obilor-Duru Augustina Okechi.
Enoh said the government was shifting nutrition from being viewed mainly as a health or humanitarian issue to treating it as an industrial and economic priority with implications for productivity, enterprise development, domestic manufacturing and wealth creation.
He said the proposed strategic plan would align with the National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026–2035, the Nigeria Industrial Policy and the Vice President’s Nutrition 774 Initiative, while improving coordination among relevant government ministries, departments and agencies.
“Nigeria’s vast agricultural resources provide the raw materials needed to build competitive domestic food industries and produce nutritious, affordable and high-value products,” Enoh said, citing commodities including cassava, legumes, cocoa, oil palm, cashew and biofortified crops.
The minister called for targeted technical assistance, modern processing equipment and accessible financing to help food-processing MSMEs expand. He also identified Cluster Facility Centres as platforms for improving capacity in food processing, hygienic handling, packaging and quality standards.
Enoh urged food manufacturers to increase the use of locally sourced and biofortified raw materials, improve product formulations and expand affordable fortified food production.
He also called on financial institutions to develop affordable, long-term financing instruments tailored to food-processing MSMEs, while urging development partners and regulators to strengthen technical assistance, quality assurance, accountability and local procurement.
According to the minister, converting Nigeria’s agricultural resources into industrial value could create stronger markets for farmers, expand opportunities for women and young people, generate jobs and strengthen domestic manufacturing.
He said achieving nutrition security required an “all-of-government and all-of-society” approach to turning Nigeria’s agricultural potential into commercially viable and nutrition-sensitive industries.
The Permanent Secretary of FMITI, Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu, described nutrition as an economic and industrial priority with implications for enterprise development, investment, trade, productivity and national wellbeing.
Isokpunwu said meaningful progress would require private-sector participation because of its investment capacity, innovation, production networks and market reach.
He said the Abuja roundtable was intended to identify opportunities and bottlenecks across the nutrition value chain, map private-sector capabilities and develop practical pathways towards a broader national platform under the MarketFit Nutrition 2035 framework.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Nutrition, Mrs. Uju Vanstasia Anwukah, said the Nutrition 774 Initiative provides a governance and accountability framework for tackling malnutrition across Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas.
Anwukah said the framework brings together federal, state and local governments, the private sector, development partners and communities, adding that malnutrition affects not only health but also education, workforce productivity, economic growth and national competitiveness.
She urged businesses to move beyond corporate social responsibility and philanthropy by participating as investors, innovators and strategic partners in developing sustainable nutrition solutions.
The Executive Director of the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNi), Greg Garrett, also called for nutrition to be placed at the centre of Nigeria’s industrial and economic development agenda.
Garrett said addressing malnutrition required coordinated action across the food system, from farming and processing to manufacturing, distribution and consumption.
He said Nigeria’s agricultural resources and large consumer market create opportunities for expanding local food processing and value addition while strengthening links between farmers and manufacturers.
Garrett also advocated stronger compliance with national and international standards in food production, fortification and quality assurance, stressing that nutritious food must be commercially viable and accessible to consumers.
The roundtable brought together government officials, manufacturers, private-sector leaders, financial institutions, regulators, development partners and technical experts to examine ways of integrating nutrition into Nigeria’s industrial and commercial ecosystem.
The engagement also reaffirmed the government’s objective of using Nigeria’s agricultural resources to strengthen domestic food production, expand MSME opportunities, attract investment, create jobs and improve nutrition.
