Nigeria’s food and nutrition security is shifting from a focus on producing enough food to ensuring that meals provide the nutrients necessary for growth, learning, and productivity. The 2024 Demographic and Health Survey reveals troubling statistics: 40 percent of children under five are stunted, eight percent wasted, and 27 percent underweight. Beyond these numbers lies the crisis of “hidden hunger,” where deficiencies in key micronutrients weaken immunity, lower learning capacity, and raise maternal and child mortality.
At the Nigeria Health Watch Roundtable in Abuja, themed “Fortifying Nigeria’s Future: Strengthening Nutrition Through Local Solutions,” policymakers, experts, and partners gathered to address these challenges. The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Daju Kachollom, stressed that Nigeria’s food and nutrition system is at a crossroads, warning that fortification is not just a health intervention but an economic and social investment essential for national development.
Nigeria is currently battling a “triple burden” of undernutrition, overnutrition, and micronutrient deficiency. While urban households face growing obesity linked to processed foods, many children in rural and peri-urban areas survive on calorie-rich but nutrient-poor staples. The 2021 National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey reported high levels of vitamin A, zinc, and iron deficiencies among children and women, conditions that directly threaten maternal and newborn health.
Food fortification has been identified as one of the most cost-effective public health strategies. Nigeria has made progress with salt iodisation, which now reaches about 95 percent of households, alongside flour, sugar, and oil fortification. However, compliance remains inconsistent. Many small and medium-scale producers lack the resources, awareness, and technical support to meet standards, leaving significant nutritional gaps in the population.
To strengthen fortification efforts, the government is adopting innovations such as the Digital Fortification and Traceability Plus platform, which uses real-time monitoring to ensure compliance. Authorities are also promoting branded fortified vegetable oil, supporting small producers with incentives, and collaborating with West African neighbours on shared strategies. Stakeholders further highlighted the importance of financing mechanisms and tax waivers to support local premix manufacturers and reduce reliance on costly imports.
Experts argue that with its agricultural resources, innovative private sector, and skilled workforce, Nigeria can build a resilient, homegrown fortification system. Doing so would reduce costs, protect the country from foreign exchange shocks, and strengthen national security by tackling malnutrition at its root. As Kachollom concluded, fortified foods must become a cornerstone of Nigeria’s nutrition strategy — not as a privilege, but as a right for all citizens.
