Quantcast
Channel: ReliefWeb Updates
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 14548

Nigeria: In Nigeria, Faith Leaders Help Advance Better Nutritional Practices in their Communities

0
0
Source: Government of the United States of America
Country: Nigeria

One important aspect of sustainable development is plugging into the existing local systems, cultural norms and institutions that impact how people around the world make decisions about everything from medical treatment to which crops to plant. In countries where religion plays an important social role, donor organizations often work with faith-based institutions to tackle challenges and forge solutions that communities will be likely to adopt at a wide scale.

In Nigeria, where religion is deeply ingrained in the country’s social fabric, pastors and imams are some of the most influential community leaders. That’s why a Feed the Future project is working with faith-based institutions there to roll out an innovative, comprehensive social and behavior change communication strategy that promotes improved nutrition and hygiene behaviors.

Based on the project’s preliminary research, which indicated more people would be willing to adopt a new feeding or hygiene practice if their religion explicitly supported it, implementing partner Catholic Relief Services is using an innovative strategy to empower faith leaders to be agents of change for food security and nutrition in their communities. Working with religious leaders from the two largest faiths in Nigeria, Christianity and Islam, the project developed a Sermon Guide that contains 21 key thematic messages promoting good nutrition and hygiene practices and connecting them to religious teachings and texts.

For example, Nigeria has one of the lowest exclusive breastfeeding rates in Africa, so one of the messages from the Sermon Guide encourages mothers to continue breastfeeding for up to 24 months or more to keep their children healthy, citing parts of the Bible and the Quran that reference the practice of mothers nursing their infants.

The project team first shared messages with faith leaders during orientation sessions, where the leaders provided feedback based on their background in religious teachings. The draft guides were then shared with religious organizations including the Christian Association of Nigeria, Jama’atul Nasri Islam, the Federation of Muslim Women Associations of Nigeria, and the Justice Development and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church for input and suggestions, ensuring that the guide would be appropriate for use by faith leaders and relevant to a local audience. Religious leaders committed to using the sermon guides and including the messages every month in their respective churches and mosques.

A large network of community volunteers monitors the rollout of the messages and the project is currently evaluating the effectiveness of this behavior change strategy. By tailoring messages to the local context and gaining buy-in from some of Nigeria’s most important community leaders, Feed the Future aims to sustainably advance the health status of women and children.

The Feed the Future Nigeria Livelihoods Project is a five-year grant led by Catholic Relief Services operating in northwestern Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory. The goal of the project is to break the vicious cycle of poverty and undernutrition through interventions that integrate the very poor into the agricultural rural economy by increasing their agricultural productivity, building their income and assets, and improving their nutritional status. The project aims to move 42,000 households out of poverty with a specific focus on improving the economic and health status of women and children.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 14548

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images