Supporting Nigerian SMEs in developing nutrition strategies and addressing malnutrition challenges

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in food systems and in ensuring the availability and affordability of food for low-income populations, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

July 30, 2021

This piece from the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) discusses the Nutrition Business Monitor (NBM), a tool that has been in development since 2019 in partnership with Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the SUN Business Network (SBN). The NBM is a voluntary self-assessment tool that assesses SMEs’ performance in addressing the availability and affordability of nutritious products in their respective markets. It is currently being piloted in Nigeria and Bangladesh, and explores if and how an SME has sought to overcome local nutritional challenges through product formulation, marketing, labeling and community engagement. A recent workshop was held in Nigeria to train 26 SMEs and test this tool.