NCN Sets Up Committee To Develop Funding Structure For Nigeria’s Nutrition Interventions

by HEDNEWS on March 6, 2026

NCN Sets Up Committee to Develop Funding Structure for Nigeria’s Nutrition Interventions In a major policy move aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s public health framework, the National Council on Nutrition (NCN) chaired by Vice‑President Kashim Shettima has established a special Nutrition Financing Subcommittee tasked with designing a sustainable funding structure for the country’s nutrition programmes and interventions. The decision was taken during a virtual meeting of the council on Thursday, where members discussed strategic approaches to financing nutrition initiatives that have long struggled with inconsistent funding and implementation gaps.

The Nutrition Financing Subcommittee has been mandated to:

Develop a comprehensive financing roadmap for nutrition interventions within 30 days. This roadmap is to be submitted to both the NCN and the National Economic Council (NEC) for review and final adoption.
Design a sustainable funding structure that ensures predictable, timely, and effective funding for nutrition programmes at federal and sub‑national levels.
Promote multi‑sectoral collaboration involving government ministries, development partners, and private sector stakeholders in the financing and implementation of nutrition efforts.

Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, will chair the subcommittee. Its membership cuts across key federal ministries and offices, including:

Ministry of Education
Ministry of Water Resources
Ministry of Women Affairs
Ministry of Science and Technology
Deputy Chief of Staff to the President
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health
The Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning will serve as the secretariat for the committee.

Shettima also directed that development partners and private investors including foundations like the Aliko Dangote Foundation be involved in shaping and supporting the financing framework for nutrition interventions. Nigeria continues to face significant challenges related to malnutrition and food insecurity, particularly among children and vulnerable populations. Without a reliable financing mechanism, many nutrition policies and programmes have struggled to translate commitments into real, measurable outcomes at the grassroots level. The establishment of the Nutrition Financing Subcommittee is therefore seen as a crucial step toward:

Protecting and ring‑fencing nutrition funding from budgetary shortfalls and bureaucratic delays.
Strengthening coordination among ministries, agencies, and partners involved in nutrition.
Accelerating implementation of national nutrition strategies that improve health, productivity, and resilience across all age groups. Vice‑President Shettima emphasised the urgency of providing robust financial support for nutrition interventions, noting that “ring‑fencing nutrition financing is essential to ensure that government commitments lead to tangible improvements in people’s lives.” Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu, this initiative reinforces broader efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s social investment strategies by ensuring that critical sectors like health and nutrition receive predictable, accountable, and efficient funding.