Team Europe Visits NutriK Facility in Kano, Backs Local Nutrition Production and Agricultural Value Chains

A Team Europe delegation led by the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, has visited NutriK’s production facility in Kano as the company advances efforts to expand local sourcing and strengthen nutrition production in Nigeria.

The delegation, which included ambassadors and representatives from European Union Member States and UNICEF, toured the company's facility in the Kano Free Trade Zone as part of a broader mission to assess initiatives supporting nutrition, health, sustainable livelihoods and economic development in northern Nigeria.

NutriK’s, a French-Nigerian company and subsidiary of the French-based Nutriset Group, produces Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a specialised nutritional product used to treat severe acute malnutrition among children.

Currently, the company relies on imported groundnuts because locally processed groundnuts do not yet meet the required quality standards. However, NutriK’s is working closely with Nigerian producers to improve processing practices and enable the use of locally sourced raw materials.

Managing Director Abdoulkader Yonli said the company is investing in local processing capacity and expects to begin using Nigerian-grown groundnuts in production within the coming months, reducing dependence on imported inputs.

“Using locally grown groundnuts as well as soya will significantly reduce costs, allow us to expand production and positively impact the entire value chain—from farming and processing to distribution and employment,” Yonli said.

He stressed that NutriK’s remains fully committed to combating malnutrition through both treatment and prevention.

“Currently, there are only two facilities of this kind in Nigeria—one in Kano and one in Lagos—and most RUTF products are still sourced from abroad. Demand remains far higher than our production capacity,” he added.

NutriK’s recently relocated to the Kano Free Trade Zone following an expansion financed by Proparco, the private-sector financing arm of the French Development Agency Group. The investment is aimed at strengthening local manufacturing and building resilient nutrition supply chains.

The expansion also highlights the growing role of the Kano Free Trade Zone in attracting investment and supporting industrial development. NutriK’s currently employs 180 people directly, while many more benefit indirectly through suppliers, service providers and agricultural activities linked to production. As local sourcing increases, the number of farmers participating in the value chain is expected to grow significantly.

“The products manufactured here are helping to support vulnerable children while demonstrating how investment, innovation and business-friendly conditions created by the Kano authorities can contribute to human development and economic growth,” Ambassador Mignot said.

“We came here to learn more about the progress being made, engage with partners on the ground and explore how collaboration between Kano State, the European Union, UNICEF and the private sector can continue to deliver results,” he added.

According to UNICEF, an estimated two million children in Nigeria suffer from severe acute malnutrition, underscoring the urgent need for increased local production of life-saving nutrition products.