This brief is produced by the Operations Research and Impact Evaluation (ORIE) project, led by Oxford Policy Management (OPM), and it summarises the learning from an intervention to improve micronutrient supplementation in five states in northern Nigeria (Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara and Yobe) with the support of the Working to Improve Nutrition in Northern Nigeria (WINNN) programme.

Key messages

• Increasing attendance at periodic, preventative health events like MNCHWs requires intensive community engagement and mobilisation to ensure that the target population receives the information and is convinced of the benefits of attending. Information should be targeted at both mothers and fathers.
• Political commitment to such events, and adequate and timely public funding, are essential to ensure effective planning, delivery, and sustainability.
• Technical capacity among local government officials and health workers is key to ensuring good planning and implementation and adequate supply of key commodities.
• Additional efforts are needed to ensure that micronutrient supplementation reaches the poorest mothers, younger mothers, mothers with no formal education, and mothers living further away from health facilities.

ORIE briefs are also available on the following themes:

• Gender
• Governance
• Improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF)
• Community management of acute malnutrition (CMAM)