Abuja: The World Bank has praised Nigeria’s N-774 initiative, emphasizing its strategic framework as a potential model for addressing malnutrition. This commendation was made during a meeting on Tuesday between Vice President Kashim Shettima and a high-level delegation from the World Bank Group at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The discussion focused on the N-774 Initiative’s community-driven strategy aimed at transforming nutrition outcomes across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas (LGAs).
According to Voice of Nigeria, Vice President Kashim Shettima, during the meeting, reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to tackling its growing nutrition challenges. He presented the comprehensive N-774 Initiative, which builds on the successful outcomes of the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project. The World Bank delegation, including the Country Director, Regional Director for West and Central Africa, and the Practice Manager for Health Global Practice, expressed a strong commitment to the initiative’
s bottom-up approach to addressing nutrition challenges.
VP Kashim Shettima acknowledged the support of the World Bank on various nutrition programmes across Nigeria, noting that the N-774 initiative comes at a crucial time with the ANRiN project nearing its closeout. “The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is pioneering a paradigm shift in nutrition programmes through locally owned solutions. The N-774 Initiative represents our commitment to community-driven development and sustainable nutrition outcomes,” he stated.
The Vice President explained that the N-774 Initiative is a localized, community-driven solution tailored to the unique needs of each LGA. It aims to bring nutrition interventions directly to communities while encouraging local ownership and ensuring sustainability. “Malnutrition is a Nigerian problem that needs a Nigerian solution, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very much willing to support such an initiative,” he added. The project integrates nutrition goals across education,
agriculture, health, and social protection sectors.
Discussing the project implementation strategy, VP Shettima emphasized the importance of leveraging current political will to reverse the country’s negative nutrition indicators. “The Renewed Hope Administration is committed to swift, impactful results through this innovative approach to nutrition intervention. With sustained collaboration between the federal and subnational governments, and international partners, we are confident this initiative will yield significant improvements in our community health outcomes,” he stated.
World Bank Country Director Ndiame Diop thanked the Vice President for his leadership in coordinating multi-stakeholder collaboration on nutrition issues. He noted the importance of ongoing government financing for nutrition and announced the bank’s earmarking of $50 million under the ANRiN 2.0 programme, which serves as a crisis response window. Additionally, Trina Haque, Practice Manager for Health, Nutrition, and Population at th
e World Bank, highlighted the need for nutrition education for children and adolescents, emphasizing its importance for early child development.