Today in northeastern Nigeria, millions of people are facing the painful consequences of a worsening food security and nutrition crisis. According to the latest food and nutrition security assessment, 3.4 million people are at risk of severe food insecurity during the lean season in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states, while 2.53 million people are in need of nutritional intervention.
As food insecurity worsens, so does the risk of malnutrition. By 2022, 1.74 million children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished in the Northeast. The community’s resilience and coping mechanisms have been damaged by more than a decade of conflict.
For this purpose, The Mary Dinah Foundation in partnership with USAID created the Zero Hunger Program which is a micronutrient supplement and food aid program that aims to contribute to reducing morbidity and mortality caused by malnutrition.
The Mary Dinah Foundation was founded in 2006 in London, England and the charity has been active in various projects for 17 years.
The Zero Hunger Program has made significant strides in addressing the food crisis and malnutrition in northeastern Nigeria. The foundation’s approach is diverse and includes distribution of food supplies, promotion of infant and toddler food, hygiene GBV awareness and encouraging patronage of basic health services. Providing 4 million meals, the project targets pregnant and lactating women and children under 2 years of age with nutritional supplements and multivitamins.
By 2022, the program’s interventions will be doubled to provide 8 million meals per year targeting vulnerable people, especially women, girls, displaced persons and refugees with rice, beans, lentils and vegetables.
In her own words, the managing director of the Zero Hunger Program, Mary Dinah said that “I always believe that society will change when women and girls are educated and empowered. This makes all the difference to the family, which is an integral part of modern society. The feeding program we go beyond just food to gender-based violence protection for women and training and maternal health monitoring. Lives are changed every day in this program and we will continue to fight to help the hardest to reach people in the most dangerous and difficult settings.
Other program activities include promoting best infant and toddler feeding practices through the formulation of mothers’ support groups. Although at the core of the program is a nutrition/food security intervention, there are some program activities that cross other sectors such as health, with referrals to ante-natal and routine immunization services; WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) through hygiene promotion in the context of COVID-19; child protection and gender-based violence by providing referral pathways for case management for victims. Collectively, these activities empower women and create more inclusive communities, for greater economic outcomes.
To date, the program has had an impact on the community that has benefited with 2,263 pregnant women have been linked to ante-natal care services, 652 children linked to routine immunization services, 722 women have been the beneficiaries of training and sensitization in mother-to-mother support. group, 10,881 pregnant and lactating women and 7,198 children 6 to 24 months have received micronutrient supplements. 37,520 vulnerable people have benefited from the distribution of food packages for a total of 26 million meals so far.
Ultimately, Mary Dinah Foundation’s Zero Hunger Program is making a difference in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. By taking a holistic approach to addressing food insecurity, the program helps to ensure that vulnerable people have access to nutritious food and a sustainable food system. The foundation’s continued efforts to address this critical issue are an inspiration to us all.