The Honourable Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, FSI, has called for a paradigm shift in Nigeria’s approach to combating malnutrition, emphasizing that sustainable nutrition begins with economically empowered families, food security at the household level, and practical community-driven interventions rather than complex technical discussions.
The Minister made the call while receiving the National President of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), Prof. Salisu Maiwada Abubakar, and his team during a courtesy visit to her office in Abuja.
The Minister in her address, described nutrition as a cross-cutting development issue that transcends the health sector and requires coordinated action across agriculture, education, social protection, women’s empowerment and community development.
She stressed that although Nigeria continues to battle a severe malnutrition crisis, with over 40 percent of children affected by stunting, the solution must focus on prevention through family welfare, economic empowerment and grassroots advocacy.
“Nutrition is simple. We should not make it unnecessarily technical. Every family wants strength, good health and wellbeing. When families are economically empowered and have enough food, nutrition improves naturally.
Prevention must remain our priority,” the Minister stated.
Hajiya Imaan noted that women and children bear the greatest burden of malnutrition, explaining that social and cultural practices often deny women, especially pregnant and lactating mothers, access to adequate nutritious meals within households.
According to her, addressing these underlying inequalities requires sustained advocacy, behaviour change communication and community engagement.
The Minister highlighted several flagship interventions being implemented by the Ministry under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, including the Women Agro Value Expansion (WAVE 774) programme, the Renewed Hope Access to Nutrition Support and Assistance (RH-ANSA) initiative, Community Nutrition Kitchens, Household Nutrition Gardens and community-based Tom Brown Processing Centres aimed at improving access to affordable nutritious foods.
She explained that the Ministry’s strategy is designed to strengthen food production, improve household nutrition, empower women economically and ensure vulnerable groups have sustainable access to healthy diets.
“Empowering women remains one of the fastest and most effective pathways to improving national nutrition. Through WAVE and RH-ANSA, we are taking practical nutrition interventions directly to households and communities across the country,” she affirmed.
The Minister further proposed a formal technical collaboration between the Ministry and the Nutrition Society of Nigeria in areas including policy implementation, evidence-based research, nutrition standards, operational guidelines, capacity building, advocacy, community mobilization, monitoring frameworks and technical support for the Ministry’s nutrition programmes.
She urged the Society to consider itself a strategic partner of the Ministry in strengthening Nigeria’s nutrition architecture.
“See yourselves as part of this Ministry. Together, we can build stronger systems, strengthen our staff, support our communities and deliver lasting nutrition outcomes for Nigerian women, children and families,” she added.
Earlier, the National President of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Prof. Salisu Maiwada Abubakar, commended the Honourable Minister for her outstanding leadership and commitment to addressing malnutrition in Nigeria through innovative policies and programmes.
He praised the Minister’s active contributions at the National Council on Nutrition and described the establishment of the Ministry’s Nutrition Department as a landmark achievement that demonstrates government commitment to institutionalizing nutrition interventions.
“We are here to appreciate the Honourable Minister’s remarkable contributions to improving Nigeria’s nutrition landscape. The establishment of the Nutrition Department and the Ministry’s Renewed Hope nutrition programmes are commendable milestones that will significantly improve nutrition outcomes across the country,” Prof. Abubakar said.
The NSN President also expressed the Society’s readiness to partner with the Ministry by providing technical expertise, research support, nutrition-sensitive programme design, capacity building and nationwide community engagement through its professional network across all states and local government areas.
He particularly commended the Ministry’s Renewed Hope Access to Nutrition Support and Assistance (RH-ANSA) programme and recommended further strengthening of nutrition-sensitive agriculture under the WAVE 774 initiative to maximize its impact on household food security and dietary quality.
The Society also appreciated the Minister for approving the participation of the Ministry’s delegation at the forthcoming National Conference of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria scheduled for September, while requesting increased visibility of the Ministry’s nutrition initiatives during the conference.
Ahmed Lawan Danbazau Mnipr
Head Press and Public Relations Dept.(FMWASD)
