Leveraging Human-Centered Design to Strengthen Support for Vulnerable Children in Nigeria’s National Homegrown School Feeding Programme

By:
David Atamewalen, Irowa Erhabor, Muhammed Danhassan, Oluwatosin Adeyeye, Sani Isiyaku, Anthony Wenndt
Date:
2024
Resource type:
Blogs/news/opinion
Link:

This GAIN brief explores how Human-Centered Design (HCD) was applied to improve Nigeria’s National Homegrown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP). The program provides nutritious meals to primary school children but faces challenges in funding, coordination, and scalability.

Key insights:

Over 11 million Nigerian children experience severe food poverty, increasing their risk of malnutrition by 50%.
HCD was used to engage children, families, and stakeholders in designing solutions for improving school meal programs.
Four HCD phases were implemented (Plan, Listen, Ideate, Test) to refine program operations.
Challenges addressed include inadequate funding, corruption, and inefficiencies in food distribution.
The program’s integration with smallholder farming supports local food production and economic growth.
The report highlights HCD as a critical tool for refining and scaling up nutrition-sensitive social protection programs.

Photo Credit: GAIN