In a significant move to tackle malnutrition and strengthen local food production, the Kano State Ministry of Health has joined forces with the Federal Government's Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC). With crucial backing from the UK-FCDO Lafiya Programme, a pivotal two-day Validation Workshop for the Tom Brown Business Case was successfully convened in the state.
Stakeholders Unite to Validate Nutritious Food Initiative
The workshop, held on November 8 and 9, 2025, served as a critical platform for key stakeholders to gather. Their primary objective was to review, validate, and strengthen the Tom Brown Business Case. This local initiative is strategically designed to promote the production and commercialization of Tom Brown, a nutritious, locally produced complementary food aimed squarely at combating malnutrition and supporting child health in Kano and beyond.
In his opening address, Dr. Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, the Kano State Commissioner for Health, underscored the government's unwavering commitment to improving nutrition through sustainable, home-grown solutions. He stated that the initiative aligns with the goal of reducing malnutrition and strengthening food security while empowering local producers, particularly women and youth.
Building Local Capacity and Ensuring Sustainability
The initiative is poised to stimulate Kano State to locally enrich its nutritional supplements, thereby strengthening the capacity of the state's Drug Management and Consumer Safety Agency (DMCSA) in the production of drugs and nutritional supplements.
Representing the UK-FCDO Lafiya Programme, Abdulkadir Salisu Kabara, the State Team Lead, reaffirmed the programme's dedication to providing catalytic support. He emphasized their vision to improve access to quality healthcare and nutrition through innovative public-private partnerships, which is the cornerstone of their support for the Tom Brown Business Case.
Key Outcomes of the Validation Workshop
The intensive two-day session was structured to achieve several concrete outcomes. Participants worked diligently to:
- Review, refine, and validate the Tom Brown business case by aligning ideas between PVAC, State Governments, and development partners.
- Deliberate on the financial and technical aspects to refine the investment framework and business model.
- Strengthen state-level commitment and ownership to ensure implementation readiness, exploring potential Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements and co-financing models.
Furthermore, the workshop presented the draft business case for stakeholder input, collected technical and policy feedback to finalize the document, validated roles and responsibilities for the implementation phase, and built a consensus on the investment structure and a clear sustainability roadmap.
This initiative represents a major step forward in building nutrition resilience by leveraging locally available grains and legumes. It seeks to integrate smallholder farmers into the value chain and foster private-sector investment in food fortification and manufacturing, creating a sustainable model for improving child and maternal health in Nigeria.
