The United States-backed Operation End Starvation (OES) is seeking a partnership with President Bola Tinubu’s government to expand efforts to tackle hunger and child malnutrition in Nigeria, with plans to mobilise more than $1 billion annually for interventions across sub-Saharan Africa.
The proposed partnership is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s response to acute child malnutrition, particularly among children from vulnerable households, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.
It also comes as the Federal Government continues to expand programmes aimed at improving access to nutritious food and essential healthcare services.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed the development in Abuja while leading a delegation from OES and officials of agencies under the Federal Ministry of Health to meet with Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
The meeting focused on possible areas of collaboration between the Nigerian government and the organisation, which aims to reduce deaths caused by starvation and severe malnutrition among children across the region.
OES Chief Executive Officer, Williams Holdsworth Moore, said the organisation was encouraged by the commitment demonstrated by Nigeria’s health leadership and considered the country an important location for its planned interventions.
“We have met with the Nigerian health team, and they are one of the best of many we have met,” Moore said.
He explained that OES, with support from a major grant provided by the United States government and contributions from international philanthropists, intends to commit substantial resources to preventing child deaths linked to hunger and malnutrition.
“We want to move one billion dollars to end starvation in the next two years across Sub-Saharan Africa. The burden is high, but the capacity is also very high,” he said.
Moore added that the United States Department of State had approved Nigeria as part of the initiative’s priority outlook.
He said the organisation wanted to demonstrate the impact of large-scale funding by working directly with governments to deliver nutrition interventions over the next two years.
The proposed arrangement could provide additional support for Nigeria’s existing programmes, particularly those designed to identify malnourished children early, improve access to nutritious food and strengthen services for mothers and young children.
Operation End Starvation is an initiative of the Eleanor Crook Foundation, a philanthropic organisation focused on addressing child malnutrition.
Its work seeks to prevent starvation-related deaths and improve nutrition outcomes in vulnerable communities across sub-Saharan Africa.
Speaking during the meeting, Pate said Nigeria had already established frameworks to address malnutrition and was working to expand interventions capable of reaching households most at risk.
He specifically highlighted the National Community Food Bank Programme, which is being implemented in collaboration with the Office of the First Lady.
According to the minister, the programme has been introduced across the country’s six geopolitical zones and is expected to reach more vulnerable families as implementation expands.
“Nigeria is working hard to scale down its 6.4 million figure of acute child malnutrition, while also attending to the health of pregnant women and lactating mothers,” Pate said.
“A lot of good things are already happening in the country.”
The minister’s remarks highlighted the scale of the challenge facing Nigeria, where access to adequate nutrition remains a concern for many households.
Children under six, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are among the groups that require special attention because inadequate nutrition can affect physical development, immunity and overall health.
The National Community Food Bank Programme is designed to improve access to nutritious, locally sourced food for children under six, pregnant women, lactating mothers and other vulnerable households.
The initiative operates through community food banks linked to primary healthcare centres, bringing food assistance closer to the people who need it.
