The Youth-led Nutrition Challenge will seek practical meal plans using locally available foods during the critical first 1,000 days of life.
UNICEF and the Borno State Government have launched a youth-led competition in Maiduguri to help develop low-cost, locally made nutrition solutions for pregnant women and children at risk of malnutrition. The initiative, called the Youth-led Nutrition Challenge, is designed to tackle poor diets in the early stages of life, with a particular focus on the first 1,000 days, a period widely seen as critical for a child’s growth and development.
According to Tarek Akkad, UNICEF’s Borno field office chief, the challenge will bring together young people to design meal plans using foods that are already available locally and that families can realistically afford. The proposals will then be judged by a panel of professionals, who will choose the most practical and nutritious option for mothers and young children in Borno State. Akkad, speaking through UNICEF nutrition specialist Aminu Usman, said the project is intended to improve access to affordable, nutritious food in host communities and in camps for internally displaced people.
Usman said the first phase of the programme will cover Jere and Maiduguri Metropolitan Council before being extended to other local government areas after the pilot. The project also aims to use young people as advocates for better nutrition, helping spread messages that could reduce the risk of acute malnutrition in communities. The Borno State Primary Healthcare Development Board has pledged institutional support, linking the initiative to primary healthcare services, mothers’ support groups and households most in need.
Silver Faith, the project coordinator, said the competition winner will receive N300,000 to turn the idea into a working model, complementing existing ready-to-use therapeutic food programmes already helping women and children. UNICEF says the initiative is being backed by the UK government through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, while its wider nutrition work in Nigeria also stresses counselling for caregivers, behaviour change and the promotion of affordable, sustainable diets for mothers and children.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
