A Team Europe delegation led by the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, has visited NutriK’s production facility in Kano, highlighting growing international support for local nutrition production and agricultural value chain development in Nigeria.
The delegation, which included representatives of European Union member states and UNICEF, toured the company’s facility at the Kano Free Trade Zone during a mission aimed at assessing projects contributing to nutrition, healthcare, economic growth, and sustainable livelihoods in northern Nigeria.
NutriK’s, a French-Nigerian subsidiary of the France-based Nutriset Group, produces Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a specialized nutritional product used to treat children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
Speaking during the visit, Managing Director of NutriK’s, Abdoulkader Yonli, said the company is making significant investments to increase local sourcing of raw materials, particularly groundnuts and soybeans.
Although, the company currently imports groundnuts due to quality challenges in local processing systems, Yonli said efforts are underway to support Nigerian producers in meeting international standards.
“We expect to begin using locally sourced groundnuts in our production within the coming months. This will lower production costs, increase output, and create opportunities across the agricultural value chain”, he said.
Yonli noted that demand for therapeutic food products in Nigeria continues to exceed available supply, despite the presence of only two such manufacturing facilities in the country, located in Kano and Lagos.
The company recently expanded its operations and relocated to the Kano Free Trade Zone through financing provided by Proparco, the private-sector financing arm of the French Development Agency Group. The investment is expected to strengthen local manufacturing capacity and reduce dependence on imported nutrition products.
NutriK’s currently provides direct employment for about 180 people, while supporting numerous indirect jobs through farming, logistics, and other business services. The company expects more farmers to benefit as local sourcing initiatives expand.
EU Ambassador Gautier Mignot commended the company’s role in tackling malnutrition while contributing to economic development.
“The work being done here demonstrates how investment, innovation and strong partnerships can improve the lives of vulnerable children while creating jobs and supporting local economic growth,” Mignot said.
He added that Team Europe remains committed to working with Nigerian authorities, development partners and the private sector to improve nutrition outcomes and strengthen local production systems.
According to UNICEF, about two million children in Nigeria are affected by severe acute malnutrition, underscoring the urgent need for expanded access to life-saving nutritional interventions.