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The Federal Government has inaugurated the Steering Committee for the National Community Food Bank Programme as part of efforts to coordinate nationwide implementation of the initiative aimed at tackling hunger and malnutrition across Nigeria.
The inauguration took place during the committee’s first official meeting in Abuja, where the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, charged members to move beyond planning and ensure that execution translates into measurable impact for vulnerable Nigerians.
According to him, the programme must be judged not by the number of meetings held, but by the extent to which it improves food access and nutrition outcomes in communities most affected by poverty and food insecurity.
Programme targets all 774 LGAs
The National Community Food Bank Programme, an initiative championed by Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, is designed to strengthen community-level food and nutrition support systems across all 774 local government areas in the country.
The intervention is positioned as part of broader federal efforts to reduce acute malnutrition and create structured food support channels for vulnerable households, especially amid rising inflation and pressure on household incomes.
Government officials say the food bank programme will serve as a community-based safety net, improving food distribution efficiency while strengthening local resilience against hunger shocks.
Multi-ministry committee to drive implementation
The steering committee is chaired by Prof. Pate and comprises senior officials drawn from critical ministries and agencies involved in social welfare, agriculture, health and poverty reduction.
These include representatives from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
Also represented is the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, which is expected to play a central implementation role given its grassroots health infrastructure nationwide.
The Federal Government said the committee’s broad composition reflects a whole-of-government strategy intended to ensure cross-sector coordination in addressing food insecurity.
What the committee will do
The committee is expected to provide strategic oversight, align institutional responsibilities, mobilise resources and enforce accountability mechanisms throughout the programme’s rollout.
At the inaugural session, members also adopted a coordination framework that includes regular performance reviews, stakeholder engagement channels and monitoring systems to track progress as implementation scales across the country.
The Federal Government confirmed that the official flag-off of the programme will take place in Borno State later this April.
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