Vice President Shettima Tours Ethiopian Farms in Push for Better Nutrition Outcomes

 

Vice President Kashim Shettima has been photographed inspecting a papaya farm in Ethiopia as part of a high-level government-to-government peer exchange focused on accelerating nutrition delivery.

Shettima departed Abuja for Addis Ababa on Wednesday, leading a Nigerian delegation invited by Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister Temesgen Tiruneh. The inaugural Nigeria-Ethiopia Nutrition Leadership Exchange aims to share experiences on building coordinated nutrition programmes across federal, state and local levels.

During the visit, the Vice President and his team toured agricultural sites in Ethiopia’s Oromia Regional State, including wheat, banana and papaya farms. Discussions centred on transforming agricultural value chains to improve food production and nutrition outcomes. Shettima praised Ethiopia’s progress in wheat production, noting the country has shifted from importing about $1 billion worth of wheat annually to meeting domestic needs and exporting to neighbouring countries. He stated that Nigeria and Ethiopia, with a combined population of more than 400 million, could help feed Africa through deeper cooperation in modern agriculture and large-scale food production.

The Nigerian delegation includes governors from Zamfara and Jigawa states, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, and other senior officials. The programme also featured visits to training centres and community initiatives related to nutrition.

Source: The photograph and initial report of Shettima at the Ethiopian farm were shared by the X account @NigeriaStories on Friday, October 9, 2026. Details of the official visit have been confirmed by multiple Nigerian news outlets citing statements from the Vice President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha.

Reader reactions: Responses to the @NigeriaStories post have been mixed. Some users questioned the cost of the exchange and demanded clear, measurable nutrition outcomes for Nigerians. Others highlighted security challenges facing farmers at home, contrasting the relative safety of farming in Ethiopia with insecurity in parts of Nigeria. A few expressed interest in the practical lessons Nigeria could adopt to strengthen its own food security and nutrition systems.