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Minister of Education Tunji Alausa has called for stronger involvement of the education sector in tackling child malnutrition through expanded school feeding, school health services and nutrition education.
A statement by his media aide, Ikharo Attah, on Thursday, indicated that Alausa made the call at the Ethiopia-Nigeria Leadership Exchange on Moving the Needle on Nutrition in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he stressed the need for stronger collaboration among government ministries and the three tiers of government to ensure nutrition interventions reach children and families at the grassroots.
Speaking during a session on Building the Multi-Sectoral Framework, the minister said malnutrition could not be effectively addressed by one sector alone, noting that education, health, agriculture, planning and other relevant sectors must work together with clear responsibilities, adequate financing 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, particularly for vulnerable children, families and communities.
He maintained that education remains central to the fight against malnutrition because children’s nutrition, health, learning and overall development are closely interconnected.
Alausa identified school feeding as one of the practical ways the education sector could improve children’s nutrition while promoting school attendance and retention.
He also highlighted the integration of nutrition-related studies into the revised school curriculum, saying it would equip children with knowledge of healthy eating, wellbeing and healthy lifestyles.
The minister said the Federal Ministry of Education’s proposed contribution to Nutrition 774 would include school feeding, school health, nutrition education and measures to improve access to quality education and school participation.
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He added that the interventions would form part of local government multisectoral plans of action for food and nutrition, with relevant education indicators proposed for inclusion in the initiative’s local government scorecard.
Alausa further stressed the need to expand attention to early childhood care and development beyond the first 1,000 days of life, arguing that children’s nutritional, health and developmental needs remained critical throughout the wider period of early growth.
He identified reliable and integrated data as essential to effective nutrition planning, saying better coordination of government data would help identify children and communities requiring support and determine whether interventions were reaching intended beneficiaries.
The minister noted that the National Policy on Food and Nutrition seeks to increase school-feeding coverage from 33 per cent to 60 per cent of primary-school children by 2035.
He called for effective implementation of national policies at state and local government levels, with clear targets and monitoring mechanisms to strengthen accountability.
Alausa also welcomed Ethiopia’s experience in coordinating nutrition interventions and mobilising domestic resources, saying lessons from the country could inform Nigeria’s approach when adapted to local circumstances.
He reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to working with relevant ministries, state and local governments and development partners to strengthen education-related interventions under the Nutrition 774 Initiative.
He said improving children’s nutrition alongside access to quality education was essential to building a healthier, better-educated and more productive population.
