In response to a request from the Benin Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) focal point, following the 2022 Joint Annual Assessment (JAA), the establishment and operation of the SUN Business Network (SBN) began with the support from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and CARE through the CASCADE programme. The goal of the programme is to improve food security and reduce malnutrition among at least 5 million women of reproductive age and children under 5 in Benin, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Mozambique. The establishment of SBN Benin started with the development of a strategic plan for 2024-2030 and mapping of potential members and partners.
Climate change is a threat to the sustainability of global and national food systems. Unsustainable food systems cannot ensure food and nutrition security or healthy eating patterns. Climate change is already altering agricultural production, food processing, distribution, and conSumption. Its impacts disrupt food supply, limiting people’s access to the diverse, safe, and nutritious foods that make up high-quality diets.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) – Nigeria office, in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Nigeria, is proud to announce the Nigeria launch of the 2024 Global Food Policy Report on Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition. This pivotal report highlights critical challenges and opportunities for transforming food systems to ensure sustainable, healthy diets for all Nigerians. In a country where malnutrition remains a significant concern and millions struggle to afford nutritious foods, the report's findings are particularly relevant. Drawing on extensive research from IFPRI and CGIAR, the report provides actionable policy solutions tailored to low- and middle-income countries, emphasizing improved diet quality, nutrition, and food system governance.
The NFCMS 2021 provides valuable insights and highlights the need for strategic investments in agriculture, nutrition, and food systems. While progress has been made, there is a clear imperative for improved implementation and expanded coverage of nutrition interventions across diverse population groups.
Reducing foodborne disease in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is crucial for advancing nutrition, health, and other development goals. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/Feed the Future’s Evidence and Action Towards Safe, Nutritious Food (EatSafe) program sought to harness consumer demand as a mechanism to improve food safety practices and generate evidence on how to raise consumer demand for safe, nutritious foods in traditional market settings—the main source of food for most LMIC consumers.
Consuming a healthy diet is vital for people’s well-being – to live well, grow, and stay active. Nigeria’s vibrant food systems have the critical job of nourishing Africa’s largest nation – a growing and youthful population that needs to be well-fed to meet its potential.
Since most people get a large portion of their food from the private sector, private-sector companies can play a key role in improving nutrition by bringing more safe and nutritious products to market, in forms that are appealing and affordable to consumers. This is ever more important in Nigeria today, where annual food inflation in December 2023 reached 28% - putting healthy diets beyond the reach of many lower-income consumers.
As part of EatSafe's effort to evaluate the impacts of food safety behavior change interventions, this report summarized food safety behaviors and behavior drivers across four food safety macro-indices, assessed via structured surveys of vendors and consumers in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s plan for the transformation of its food systems, presented after the landmark 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit, is proof of its strong political dedication to implementing impactful changes in the country’s food systems.
In this paper, EatSafe examines the process of “making a market” through a case study of vendors and consumers, using in-depth interviews, in Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria. Results demonstrate that market transactions are influenced by a complex interaction of vendors’ norms on competition and collaboration, consumers’ needs for credit amid unpredictable prices and restrictive gender norms, and a “moral economy” that appears to guide market actors’ behavior.
