From April 7–8, 2025, in Karu, Nasarawa State, nutrition stakeholders from across Nigeria convened for the 2025 Quarter One meeting of the National Committee on Food and Nutrition (NCFN). This meeting was not only a review of progress—it was a launchpad for innovation, coordination, and accountability, aligning with the Nutrition 774 Initiative and the implementation of the National Multisectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition (NMPFAN).
Bringing together all nutrition key stakeholders—including Nutrition Line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); Development Partners, like UNICEF, Alive & Thrive, Nutrition International and others; the SUN Focal Points- SUN Youth Network Nigeria; SUN Academia Research Network; SUN Business Network (GAIN); CS-SUNN and other strategic partners—the two-day meeting was hosted by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (FMBEP) with support from UNICEF, CS-SUNN among others.
The meeting sought to review achievements and challenges of quarter one in 2025, align ongoing efforts with the Nutrition 774 Initiative (N774), enhance intersectoral coordination and strengthen accountability mechanisms through tools such as the digitized Performance Management System (PMS).
While declaring the meeting open, Dr. Emeka Vitalis Obi (mni), Permanent Secretary of the FMBEP, emphasized the importance of reviewing quarter one achievements and planning for the next. He referenced key outcomes from the National Council on Nutrition (NCN) meeting chaired by Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima, especially the directive for MDAs to align their operational plans with the Nutrition 774 Initiative. Dr. Obi urged stronger collaboration with State and Local Government Committees on Food and Nutrition to deepen grassroots impact. He also relayed updates from the Head of Civil Service on the establishment of nutrition departments in key MDAs and encouraged broader compliance, assuring government’s support for nutrition budget tagging and prompt releases. He called on MDAs to identify nutrition programme implementation challenges—particularly around funding—for prompt attention, while commending UNICEF, the World Bank, and CS-SUNN for their continued support.
The meeting was more than a routine check-in—it marked a defining moment for the nation’s nutrition governance architecture. CS-SUNN’s strategic contributions at the meeting powered two groundbreaking innovations in advancing Nigeria’s nutrition monitoring and visibility efforts: the Upgraded Performance Management System (PMS), and an Introduction of the NCFN Biannual Newsletter.
Laying the Foundation for Accountability: From Appraisal Tool to Real-Time Digital PMS- The Upgrade
For years, tracking progress in nutrition implementation across MDAs relied on a manual, time-consuming appraisal process. Recognizing the critical need for a unified, dynamic performance tracking system, CS-SUNN began supporting the evolution of a System—technically, strategically, and financially, fit for this purpose. From the design of early templates, referred then, to as the Appraisal tool (about five years back) to hosting stakeholder validation meetings in collaboration with key partners in the nutrition space, and eventually to a fully digitized Performance Management System; CS-SUNN remained committed to this initiative.
Supporting the transformation of the Excel Sheet Appraisal tool into a fully digitized Performance Management System (PMS), the sophisticated platform is now owned and hosted by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (FMBEP). It efficiently collates, stores and analyses data on the implementation of the National Multisectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition, as well as budget performance across line ministries, departments, and agencies.
This online gateway not only streamlines reporting processes but also provides timely insights into program effectiveness, coverage, and budget performance. According to Senior Communications Officer at CS-SUNN, Lilian Okafor “CS-SUNN is proud to have walked this journey from the tool’s early appraisal format to its digital transformation. Today, the PMS is no longer a reporting burden—it is a tool for nutrition visibility, accountability, and results.”
At the meeting, CS-SUNN’s Consultant conducted a live demo of the upgraded PMS, which now features an improved user-friendly interface. This includes a Super Admin dashboard with intuitive data visualization tools that facilitate real-time tracking of implementation status across MDAs. The dashboard allows for customized monitoring by nutrition themes, MDA cluster, or geographical coverage.
A major highlight of the upgraded PMS is its user management functionality, which offers multi-tier access levels, secure logins, automated password resets, and the ability to temporarily lock or reactivate user accounts. The redesigned notification system also includes automated alerts for submission deadlines, new data updates, and inactivity reminders, improving overall user compliance.
In the coming days, CS-SUNN will share a comprehensive piece highlighting the successes from the recently concluded training of key MDAs and nutrition partners in Nigeria (at both the national and state levels) on usage of the upgraded PMS.
Bringing Voices to the Fore: Introducing the NCFN Biannual Newsletter
But CS-SUNN’s contributions didn’t stop at digital tools. During the same meeting, the alliance also contributed to refining insights for the NCFN Biannual Newsletter reporting template —a national nutrition knowledge product that will document, spotlight, and elevate stories, progress, and innovation from across the national to sub-national levels.
Presenting the Newsletter Template, CS-SUNN’s Senior Communications Officer, Okafor walked participants through its structured sections, including policy updates, implementation snapshots, MDA and SUN Networks’ highlights, voices from the field, innovation spotlights, and research insights among others. Stakeholders were introduced to this unified submission template that simplifies content collation from the National Council on Nutrition (NCN), NCFN, MDAs and all SUN Networks.
Two prototype versions—an interactive flipbook and a downloadable PDF—were also presented. CS-SUNN is part of the dedicated Editorial Team including the Federal Ministry of Information, the Academia Research Network, The SUN Youth Network among others tasked to ensure quality content generation, review, and curation of the newsletter. The newsletter is envisioned as a unifying platform that will consolidate multi-sectoral reporting, promote knowledge sharing, and strengthen transparency and visibility within and beyond Nigeria’s nutrition space.
Key Action Points and Commitments Emerging from the Q1 2025 NCFN Meeting
To sustain the momentum and build on the successes of the NCFN meeting, participants committed to several actions aimed at strengthening multisectoral collaboration, improving data-driven planning, and enhancing communication for nutrition outcomes. These include:
- Accelerating Alignment with the Nutrition 774 Initiative: All MDAs pledged to align their annual operational plans with the Nutrition 774 framework, ensuring a harmonized, bottom-up approach to delivering nutrition interventions nationwide.
- Institutionalizing Nutrition Budget Tagging: There was a strong consensus on the need to integrate nutrition budget tagging into the 2025/2026 budget cycle to improve transparency, track expenditure, and ensure optimal resource allocation for nutrition.
- Enhancing the Quality and Timeliness of Newsletter Inputs: MDAs and stakeholders committed to providing high-quality, timely inputs to the newly introduced NCFN Biannual Newsletter, recognizing it as a critical visibility tool.
- Full Utilization of the Upgraded PMS Platform: Stakeholders were urged to populate the digital Performance Management System (PMS) consistently, with a target for full system adoption and data entry by all relevant actors before the end of Q2 2025.
- Mainstreaming Gender-Responsive Adolescent Nutrition: Deliberations emphasized the importance of prioritizing gender-responsive adolescent nutrition within the on-going review of the National Policy on Food and Nutrition (NPFN) to address the unique needs of adolescents across Nigeria.
- Sustained High-Level Engagement: The meeting recommended continuous engagement with the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation to support the establishment of nutrition departments across all relevant MDAs, reinforcing institutional capacity for multisectoral nutrition delivery.
- Youth Inclusion in Communication Platforms: The SUN Youth Network Nigeria was recommended for inclusion as editorial team members of the NCFN Newsletter—ensuring youth perspectives are adequately represented and institutionalized.
- Addressing Budget Release Challenges: It was resolved that a comprehensive collation of challenges related to delayed budget releases would be documented and submitted to the Permanent Secretary, FMBEP for timely resolution and policy-level intervention.
These commitments signify a renewed drive by nutrition stakeholders to institutionalize best practices, enhance transparency, and scale up impact through collaboration, accountability, and inclusive communication.
