Connecting school food, nutrition and livelihoods in Nigeria
7 days ago
4 min read
In Kebbi State, northwestern Nigeria, schools are procuring fortified rice from local millers. In Ibadan, Oyo State, children’s experiences growing vegetables are encouraging families to set up gardens at home. And in Enugu State, school feeding cooks are learning to grow food and generate income from agricultural enterprises.
These initiatives were featured in the first Nigeria Community of Policy and Practice (CoPP) webinar, Pathways Towards Transforming School Food Systems, held on 30 September 2026. Bringing together government, researchers and practitioners, the discussion explored how food system interventions can improve nutrition while supporting local livelihoods and informing policy.
The examples connect with Nigeria’s national ambitions. Under the revised National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026–2035, the government aims to increase school-feeding coverage from 33% in 2022–2023 to 60% by 2035. Clementina Ebere Okoro, Director of Food and Nutrition at the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and National convenor of the Nigerian food systems transformation agenda, emphasised the importance of linking school meals with local food production, reliable procurement and better nutrition outcomes.
The missing link in the chain
“Availability of nutritious food does not necessarily guarantee access to it for poor and vulnerable households,”
explained David Atamewalen, Senior Programme Manager at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
In Kebbi State, GAIN has worked with the state government and the World Food Programme to connect local rice millers with schools. While fortified rice was available, schools needed reliable arrangements to purchase and collect it.
The project established collection points where school heads can purchase fortified rice from local suppliers. Advocacy through a state advisory committee also helped secure timely funding for bulk purchases.
According to David, 69,700 students across 207 schools now consume fortified rice enriched with B vitamins and zinc, exceeding the initial target of 60,000 children. Over 9,600 kg has been procured from local suppliers.
The experience shows how stronger procurement and financing arrangements can connect local food production with children's nutritional needs. But the benefits of these connections need not stop at supplying school meals. They can also create opportunities for the people producing and preparing food – particularly women.
Linking school demand with local livelihoods
The potential for women’s inclusion is being explored in Niger, Osun and Enugu states, where Action Health Incorporated through the Partnership for Child Development are supporting school cooks through the Catalysing Change for Healthy Food Systems (CCHEFS) project.
According to the PI Adesanmi Abimbola, the CCHeFS project demonstrates that school feeding can be much more than a programme that provides meals to children. It can serve as a catalyst for healthier diets, stronger local economies, women's empowerment, community ownership, and more resilient food systems. It can connect producers, schools, households, and institutions in ways that create lasting change.
Some 450 women received training in crop and livestock production, nutrition and financial literacy, helping them grow food and develop income-generating activities.
In Enugu, the project worked with existing school-feeding cooperatives of around 150 cooks, providing community land, biofortified crops, poultry and training.
Ifeanyi Onah, the state's School Feeding Programme Manager, explained that some women had never farmed before joining the initiative. They are now using their harvests to feed their families and earning income from sales, reducing household expenses. Working together has also strengthened their confidence and ability to contribute to family decisions.
However, interruptions to school feeding in Enugu State have limited opportunities for the women to apply their new skills in preparing school meals. Their experience demonstrates both the wider livelihood opportunities associated with school feeding and the importance of sustained programme delivery.
While these initiatives focus on connecting school food systems with local production and livelihoods, another approach is exploring how schools can influence food choices and practices within children's homes.
Extending benefits into households
At theUniversity of Ibadan researchers have spent nearly a decade exploring a simple question: how do we get children to eat more vegetables?
Through ‘Nutri-Garden’ activities, children grow, harvest, prepare and eat traditional leafy vegetables, including ewedu (jute mallow) and tete (amaranth), before taking recipes and learning activities home.
Shirley Isi Ejoh, Senior Lecturer in Human Nutrition and Dietetics, described how the garden had become a classroom and nutrition lab, where children could experience the journey of food “from soil to plate”.
Among parents providing feedback, over 70% reported starting a garden because of their child's participation, while over 90% had prepared a recipe taught through the programme. Although children's nutrition knowledge increased, changes in vegetable consumption were not statistically significant – highlighting the need for repeated learning and family reinforcement.
The initiative has evolved from annual vacation-school activities into Nutri-Garden clubs operating throughout the academic year. More than 150 student volunteers have been trained, and schools with limited space have used containers and sacks to grow vegetables.
“Starting a garden is easier than sustaining one,”
Shirley reflected. Long-term success depends on integrating gardening into school routines, teacher responsibilities and financing.
As with the initiatives in Kebbi and Enugu States, the challenge is not simply demonstrating what works, but creating the conditions for these benefits to continue.
Turning shared learning into action
Together, the three experiences show how school feeding can connect children's nutrition with local agriculture, women's livelihoods and learning that extends into households. Yet all three face similar challenges – from securing reliable financing and programme continuity to establishing the institutional support needed for lasting impact.
“School feeding programs are a reliable economic and governance platform that transforms food systems while connecting local production, reliable markets, women’s agency and the collective voice of women to influence institutions,”
