As we celebrate World Food Day 2024 (October 16), with the theme “Right to Food for a Better Life and Future,” we are reminded of a stark reality; despite producing enough food to feed the world, 733 million people still face hunger. In Nigeria, this global crisis hits close to home, where approximately 11 million children – one-third of the population – experience severe child food poverty, significantly increasing their risk of malnutrition and wasting.
The right to food is not just about filling stomachs, it is also about nourishing bodies and minds, fostering communities, and building a resilient nation. Yet, for too many Nigerians, this fundamental right remains out of reach. The challenge before us is clear: how do we bridge the gap between abundance and scarcity, between potential and reality?
The answer lies in strengthening our social protection systems. These vital safety nets are not mere handouts; they are investments in our collective future. When designed with nutrition at their core, social protection programmes become powerful tools for combating hunger, reducing inequality, and breaking the cycle of poverty.
This can be achieved through the deployment of Human-Centred Design. This approach is about understanding and addressing the real-life needs of the people we serve. By directly engaging with beneficiaries, involving them in the design process, and using iterative cycles of prototyping and feedback, we ensure that the solutions developed are practical, contextually relevant, and sustainable.
Using the HCD Toolkit, participants created state-specific system maps, enabling them to visualise and analyse the intricate connections within their social protection systems. These exercises highlighted both strengths and areas for improvement, laying the groundwork for more responsive and effective programmes.
This approach has already shown promise in Nigeria, particularly in the Federal Capital Territory, Kaduna, and Kebbi states. For example, in the FCT, the HCD process led to the development of an innovative Monitoring and Evaluation prototype for school feeding programmes. This system holds the potential to revolutionise how we track programme impacts, ensuring that every naira spent contributes to better nutrition outcomes for children.
At the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition Nigeria, we have witnessed the transformative impact of nutrition-sensitive social protection. A core part of GAIN’s mission is to ensure access to healthier diets for everyone, particularly the most vulnerable. To advance this goal, GAIN introduced a Human-Centred Design Toolkit to promote the systematic integration of human-centred approaches in Nutrition-Sensitive Social Protection programmes, ensuring these efforts are effectively tailored to the real needs of those they serve.
Our vision, however, goes beyond school feeding programmes. We are working to integrate nutrition considerations across all social protection initiatives. Crucially, strengthening social protection requires policy reforms that prioritise nutritious diets, building the capacity of implementers to deliver nutrition-sensitive interventions, and fostering collaboration between the agriculture, health, and social welfare sectors.
To drive this transformation, we propose an eight-step roadmap for mainstreaming HCD in Nigeria’s social protection sector which involves establishing a cross-functional task force, providing capacity building and training, developing guidelines and resources, fostering policy partnerships, piloting HCD in existing programs, embedding it in program cultures, monitoring and evaluating its impact, and advocating for funding and resources to scale HCD implementation.
The challenges we face are substantial, but the opportunities are equally significant. By embedding nutrition-sensitive strategies into social protection systems, we can make strides towards multiple Sustainable Development Goals: reducing hunger, improving health, enhancing education, and stimulating economic growth, while also strengthening community resilience.
However, achieving this transformation requires collective action. Governments must prioritise nutrition in their social protection strategies, allocate sufficient resources, and ensure effective implementation. The private sector must innovate by providing affordable, nutritious food options and supporting sustainable supply chains. Civil society organisations must advocate for the rights of vulnerable populations and hold institutions accountable.
As we mark World Food Day, we are reminded that the right to food is not merely an idea—it is a call to action. It challenges us to rethink our food systems, innovate our social protection strategies, and commit to leaving no one behind.
Together, we can build a Nigeria where every child, family, and community has access to the nutritious food they need to thrive. A Nigeria where social protection is not just a safety net, but a springboard to a better life and a brighter future.
On this World Food Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to ensuring food access for all Nigerians. Let us strengthen our social protection systems, nourish our communities, and work towards a future where no one is left behind. The time to act is now—join us in this critical effort for a healthier, more equitable Nigeria.
•Wale Ojo is the Country Director for Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
