By: Aba O. Abba in Abuja.
The Federal Government has commenced plans to develop a Unified Trade Sector Nutrition Strategic Plan and map private-sector capacity as part of efforts to use nutrition as a driver of food industrialisation, MSME growth, investment and job creation.
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, disclosed this on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at a high-level private-sector roundtable on nutrition in Abuja.
The engagement, organised in collaboration with the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNi), was held under the theme, “Nutrition as a Critical Lever of Nigeria’s Food Industrialization and MSME Competitiveness.”
Enoh said the proposed strategic plan would align with the National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026–2035, Nigeria Industrial Policy and the Vice President’s Nutrition 774 Initiative.
He said the Federal Government was repositioning nutrition from being viewed largely as a health or humanitarian concern to recognising it as an industrial and economic priority capable of strengthening domestic manufacturing, enterprise development and national productivity.
According to him, the planned national multi-stakeholder mapping exercise would identify private-sector capabilities, address bottlenecks across the food and nutrition value chain and produce an actionable roadmap for nutrition-driven industrial development.
Enoh identified cassava, legumes, cocoa, oil palm, cashew and biofortified crops among Nigeria’s agricultural resources that could provide raw materials for competitive domestic food industries.
He called for technical assistance, modern processing equipment and accessible financing to enable MSMEs to scale, while describing Cluster Facility Centres as important platforms for improving food processing, hygienic handling, packaging and quality standards.
The minister also urged food manufacturers to increase the use of locally sourced and biofortified raw materials, improve product formulations and expand affordable fortified food production.
He further called on financial institutions to provide affordable, long-term financing tailored to food-processing MSMEs, while urging development partners and regulators to strengthen technical assistance, quality assurance, accountability and local procurement.
The Permanent Secretary, FMITI, Dr Chris Osa Isokpunwu, said nutrition had become an economic and industrial priority with implications for investment, trade, productivity and enterprise development.
Isokpunwu said the roundtable was designed 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 sustainable economic development required a healthy and productive population.
She said the Nutrition 774 Initiative provides a governance and accountability framework for tackling malnutrition across Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas through coordinated action involving government, businesses, development partners and communities.
The Executive Director of ATNi, Greg Garrett, said Nigeria’s agricultural resources and large consumer market offered significant opportunities for local food processing, value addition, investment and employment.
He advocated stronger adherence to national and international standards in food production, fortification and quality assurance, stressing that nutritious food must also be commercially viable and accessible.
The roundtable brought together government officials, manufacturers, financial institutions, regulators, development partners and technical experts to examine practical ways of integrating nutrition into Nigeria’s industrial and commercial ecosystem.
Picture: The Minister of State (Industry) FMITI, Sen. John Owan Enoh, (middle) the Perm. Sec. FMITI, Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu (2nd right), the SSA to the Vice President on Public Health, Mrs Uju Vanstasia Anwukah (2nd left) the Executive Director, ATNi, Mr Greg Garrett, (1st left), Asst. Dir. Trade Dept. FMITI, Mrs Vivian Chindah(1st right) during the Private Sector High Level Roundtable Engagement on Nutrition 774 Initiative, held in Abuja on Wednesday 16th Sept. 2026.
