Back to Stories SBN Case Study: Strategic Partnership Engagement for a prosperous Nigeria: Devising state-specific initiatives to tackle malnutrition Download Pdf Food insecurity and malnutrition are significant concerns in Nigeria. Over a third of children under the age of five experience stunting, and one in eight do not live to see their fifth birthday. Maternal death rates are also high, at one in 30 women, while 11% of women are underweight and 28% are overweight or obese. These issues have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemics effects that have caused food prices to rise and made nutritious food more difficult to access. Furthermore, in the north-west of the country, armed conflict by militant Islamist group Boko Haram has resulted in two million people being internally displaced and at risk of starvation. The Government of Nigeria has long recognised the importance of nutrition and its role in development – and is thus committed to addressing the issues of malnutrition. As such, the National Multisectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition 2019-2023 is currently in place and aims to reduce malnutrition and stunting as well as increase uptake for exclusive breastfeeding. To support this, SBN Nigeria is assisting local governments and businesses in Kano and Cross River states through development of strategy, education and training workshops, and biofortification process. Obstacles to overcome The states of Kano and Cross River in the north- west and south-south of Nigeria, respectively, are both impacted by food insecurity and malnutrition. However, these are driven by notably different social and nutritional contexts. In Kano, many agribusinesses are Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that face challenges such as securing start-up loans and grants, registration, or top up loans to improve their businesses – in turn, they’re unable to offer more nutritious food. Access to workforce is also a challenge due to the social cultural restrictions of this area that is predominantly Islam limiting labor force to only men in agricultural production and associated work. In Cross River, food storage and preservation are the primary concerns. Cold storage facilities for harvested product are typically unavailable, leading to high levels of food waste – an issue compounded by infrastructure challenges, such as poor roads linking farmers, off-takers, and markets. Education and awareness around the importance of good nutrition, food safety, packaging, and preservation, is also lacking among smaller SMEs. The government has already launched various initiatives in Cross River State to help tackle these problems. For example, primary healthcare centres have been educating expectant women on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices for children above six months. In addition, school programmes have been rolled out to provide better nutrition to children. They are also offering basic equipment to local agro-businesses at more affordable prices, and supporting the production of bio-fortified crops, such as maize and cassava. However, limited funding and contextual challenges – including the COVID-19 pandemic and #EndSARS protests – have hampered progress; which is why input from and collaborations with organisations such as SBN are crucial. Pillars of support SBN has taken several key approaches to elevate and propel the Nigerian Government’s existing initiatives. The first is the launching of an SMEs capacity building programme, designed to help SMEs develop a robust set of skills through a series of in-person and virtual workshops. Held between March 2020 and May 2021, these entailed: education on basic nutrition and food safety, and highlighting the links between the two; a funding masterclass, providing SMEs owners and entrepreneurs with knowledge on accessing finance, identifying funding opportunities, and assessing their businesses’ financial risk profile; and training on food preservation- and safety-related processing and packaging techniques. Alongside government departments, these workshops were conducted and facilitated in collaboration with additional stakeholders, such as the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists (NASSI), and Smallstarter Africa. Outside of this programme, SBN spoke to individuals in Cross River State (and also Plateau State) about the challenges that women face in business. This led to the launch of an event in Lagos entitled ‘Business Through A Gender Lens’ – to which members of government, chambers of commerce, and women’s groups were invited to discuss how women can get support to move into different trades and take on active roles in the agricultural and food production sectors. SBN hopes to continue addressing and finding solutions to these challenges during the next phase of sub-national engagement projects. Last but not least, to aid businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, SBN – together with GAIN – launched a financial support programme for SMEs. While GAIN offered funding for recovery grants, SBN was instrumental in organising and managing aspects such as applications and submissions, communicating with businesses, and disseminating information and guidelines.
