Student drives community-led solutions to malnutrition

A postgraduate student has been recognised for of her work developing community-led approaches to tackling child and maternal malnutrition in northern Nigeria.

The initiative, created and led by MSc Global Food Security and Nutrition student Saadatu Sulaiman, aims to deliver sustainable nutrition interventions in low-resource settings. It has won the Ellie Maxwell Award, an annual prize supporting student-led charitable projects.

The student, from the Division of Global Agriculture and Food Systems, applies research methods gained through her studies to design interventions that draw on local food systems, emphasising affordability, cultural relevance and long-term sustainability.

Kano State, Ms Sulaiman’s home region, was chosen for the intervention as it faces significant nutritional and poverty-related challenges that leave many children chronically malnourished.

The project, which has been running for eight months, has supported children and women across several communities, with visible improvements in health and wellbeing. 

Research-informed approach

Before implementing nutrition interventions, Ms Sulaiman conducts a baseline assessment in each community to understand household diets and barriers to adequate nutrition.

Findings from these assessments shape a set of actions, such as nutrition screening, support for moderate malnutrition, and women’s education. 

Through practical workshops, the initiative has empowered women to produce and sell locally made foods such as soy milk and yoghurt, providing nutritional benefits and an income source.

This approach reflects core themes of Ms Sulaiman’s masters degree, including food systems thinking, gender-sensitive practice and community-centred design, she explains.

Local partnerships

Her methods emphasise collaboration with community leaders and nutrition experts who help guide access, organise participation and maintain continuity once interventions end.

Students from local nutrition and dietetics clinics will be involved in future projects, supporting household screenings and community-based delivery. This model aims to strengthen local capacity while ensuring that interventions remain rooted within communities.

Growing impact

With the support of the Ellie Maxwell Award, the initiative will expand to reach around 300 additional children.

Funding will be used to scale up screening, provide targeted support for children with acute malnutrition, and deliver further training for women on preparing nutrient-rich foods using affordable, locally sourced ingredients.

Postgraduate study

Ms Sulaiman credits her studies for shaping the design and ambition of the project. 

Courses within the postraduate programme on food systems, nutritional status assessment, and gender-transformative approaches helped refine her methodology and build the confidence to consolidate her ideas into a structured intervention.

Image credit: Nnaemeka Ugochukwu, Unsplash