The SUN Business Network (SBN) aims to increase the availability and affordability of safe, nutritious foods to consumers, especially low-income consumers through activities at global and national levels. At a national level, the SBN convenes businesses, assesses technical, financial and other business support service needs for members, and advocates the role of business in addressing nutrition at country level. Read More
The SUN Business Network (SBN) aims to increase the availability and affordability of safe, nutritious foods to consumers, especially low-income consumers through activities at global and national levels. At a national level, the SBN convenes businesses, assesses technical, financial and other business support service needs for members, and advocates the role of business in addressing nutrition at country level. At a global level, the SBN acts as a focal point for engaging multinational businesses in nutrition activities such as making workplace nutrition commitments.Read More
The SUN Business Network (SBN) aims to increase the availability and affordability of safe, nutritious foods to consumers, especially low-income consumers through activities at global and national levels. At a national level, the SBN convenes businesses, assesses technical, financial and other business support service needs for members, and advocates the role of business in addressing nutrition at country level.Read More
Emerging networks are in SUN Countries where the government has made a commitment to ending malnutrition through a multi-stakeholder approach and private sector companies have begun to mobilise their support for a multistakeholder, multisectoral approach to improving nutrition. Read More
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The Federal Republic of Nigeria joined the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement in November 2011, following a letter of commitment from Prof. C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu, the country’s health minister at the time. The SUN Business Network (SBN) in Nigeria was formalised five years later in 2016 after which a co-ordinator was appointed to liaise with the government on matters of private sector and nutrition. With over 280 members and counting, SBN Nigeria is consistently expanding its reach, increasingly at the subnational level.
According to the Global Nutrition Report, Nigeria is currently on-course to prevent any further increases in the number of under-fives who are overweight, and the country has also made steps towards improving the number of infants who are exclusively breast-fed during the first five months of their lives (28.7%) as well reducing as the number of children under the age of five affected by wasting (6.8%). However, a lot of work still needs to be done to improve these numbers and, specifically, to improve the nutritional outcomes of Nigerians across the country. Nigeria also needs further attention paid to nutrition targets including reducing the number of women of reproductive age experiencing anaemia, which currently rests at 50%. In addition, over a third of children under five are affected by stunting, 17% of adults are overweight, and 12% of adults above the age of 18 years have diabetes.
In Nigeria, the SBN is convened by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). The SUN Business Network in Nigeria was launched on 21st April, 2016 at a convening of Businesses, NGOs, UN Agencies, Donors and Government. In a Call to Action at the launch event, the Strategy for SBN was laid out with the Purpose, Vision, Target Areas and Core Objectives clearly identified (after wide consultation) to engage businesses in nutrition. SBN is also working with the Government of Nigeria to chart entry points for businesses to contribute to a reduction in malnutrition, in line with Nigeria’s National Food and Nutrition Policy.
The work of SBN Nigeria is focused around five main areas:
Advocating for increased involvement and contribution of private sector actors in the nutrition space.
Facilitating nutrition initiatives in workplaces
Creating greater demand for nutritious foods.
Improving access to nutritious foods.
Ensuring effective participation of private sector in government’s nutrition initiatives (including policy development and implementation) that would improve the enabling environment for businesses.
In working towards these, the network engages in a variety of activities. To support an enabling environment for nutrition-focused companies, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), SBN Nigeria facilitates and promotes business-to-business linkages and collaborations and provides a conducive platform through which public-private sector dialogues can take place. Identifying and facilitating access to finance for SMEs so they can continue to scale and innovate is also a priority. SBN Nigeria works to enhance the knowledge of businesses on nutrition and food safety, and how they can contribute to improve access to better nutrition in line with the priorities of Government. Equipping these businesses with knowledge, improves the nutritional value of their products and services, and their ability to drive consumer demand for local, regionally-grown nutritious ingredients– developing their knowledge of optimum food sources and how these can benefit their health. Working with businesses across food value-chains, SBN supports the strengthening of indigenous supply chains through linkage with required technical assistance offered by global SBN members, partners or local service providers. Finally, it works with actors at all stages throughout the food chain to improve access to nutritious food: facilitating the innovation and development of appealing and affordable locally produced products; identifying gaps in business structures and offering technical solutions to bridge these; and promoting investments in the nutrition sector to ensure access points and sustainable supply.
