Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr Morufu Olatunji Alausa, has called for stronger school feeding programmes, improved school health services and nutrition education as part of efforts to tackle child malnutrition across the country.
Alausa made the call at the Ethiopia-Nigeria Leadership Exchange on Moving the Needle on Nutrition in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he highlighted the role of education in improving children’s nutrition, health and development.
Speaking during a session on building a multi-sectoral framework on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, the minister said addressing malnutrition required coordinated action involving the education, health, agriculture and planning sectors, as well as adequate funding and effective monitoring.
He said the Nutrition 774 Initiative provides an opportunity to translate national nutrition priorities into practical interventions across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, with particular attention to children, families and communities most in need.
According to Alausa, school feeding is one of the key ways the education sector can contribute to improved child nutrition while encouraging school attendance and retention. He noted that linking feeding programmes with school participation could help address some of the barriers preventing children from enrolling in and remaining in school.
The minister also highlighted the integration of nutrition-related subjects into Nigeria’s revised school curriculum, saying the initiative would equip pupils with knowledge of healthy eating, personal wellbeing and healthy lifestyles.
The Federal Ministry of Education has proposed school feeding, school health services, nutrition education and improved access to quality education as key contributions to the Nutrition 774 Initiative. These interventions are expected to be incorporated into local government food and nutrition action plans, alongside education-related indicators in the initiative’s local government scorecard.
Alausa said the proposed interventions align with the National Policy on Food and Nutrition, which aims to increase school-feeding coverage from 33 per cent to 60 per cent of primary-school children by 2035.
He also called for sustained attention to early childhood care and development beyond the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, stressing that children continue to require nutritional, health and developmental support as they grow.
The minister identified reliable and integrated data as essential to effective planning and delivery of nutrition programmes. He said combining relevant government data would help authorities identify vulnerable children and communities, allocate resources more effectively and assess whether interventions were reaching their intended beneficiaries.
He added that national policies must be supported by effective implementation at state and local government levels, with clear targets and monitoring mechanisms to strengthen accountability.
Alausa further welcomed the opportunity to learn from Ethiopia’s experience in coordinating nutrition programmes and mobilising domestic resources. He said lessons from the leadership exchange could inform Nigeria’s efforts, provided they were adapted to the country’s specific needs and circumstances.
The minister reaffirmed the Federal Ministry of Education’s commitment to working with relevant ministries, state governments, local government authorities and development partners to implement education-related interventions under the Nutrition 774 Initiative.
He said improving child nutrition and access to quality education remained essential to human capital development and aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Alausa added that stronger school feeding programmes, improved school health services, nutrition education and effective collaboration across government would help improve children’s wellbeing and development.
He reiterated the ministry’s commitment to ensuring that education remains central to Nigeria’s response to malnutrition and to creating conditions that enable every child to learn, grow and fulfil their potential.
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