The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Borno State Government have launched a youth-led innovation challenge to develop affordable, locally sourced nutritional solutions for pregnant women and young children.
The initiative was unveiled in Maiduguri on Thursday, with a focus on preventing acute malnutrition during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.
Speaking at the launch, UNICEF Chief of Field Office in Borno, Tarek Akkad, represented by the organisation’s Nutrition Specialist, Aminu Usman, said the challenge would engage young people in developing affordable and nutritious meal plans using locally available food items.
He explained that participants would present their ideas to a panel of professionals, who would select the most practical, affordable and nutritious proposals for pregnant women and young children.
According to UNICEF, the initiative also seeks to improve access to nutritious food for vulnerable families in host communities and internally displaced persons’ camps.
Usman said the first phase of the project would focus on Jere and Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, with plans to expand to additional local government areas after the pilot phase.
He added that the programme would harness the creativity of young people to promote community-based solutions and strengthen awareness of malnutrition prevention.
The Project Coordinator of the Borno State Youth-led Nutrition Innovation Challenge, Silver Faith, said the winner would receive 300,000 naira to support the implementation of the proposed innovation.
She explained that participants would develop meal plans using locally sourced market foods to complement ready-to-use therapeutic food, known as RUTF, already provided to women and children requiring treatment for acute malnutrition.
Meanwhile, a representative of the Borno State Primary Healthcare Development Board, Mala Abdulrahman, pledged the state government’s institutional support for the initiative.
He said the programme would be integrated into primary healthcare structures and linked to mothers’ support groups and vulnerable families.
The project is being implemented in partnership with the Foundation for Alternative Learning for Underserved Communities and U-Report, with technical support from UNICEF’s Nutrition Section.
UNICEF also acknowledged funding support from the United Kingdom government through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
