Patrick Ward is the director of ORIE, the Operational Research and Impact Evaluation project for the DFID funded Working to Improve Nutrition in Northern Nigeria (WINNN) programme. He starts this presentation by giving an overview of ORIE workstreams: operations research, impact evaluation, economic evaluation, cohort study of stunting, evidence dissemination & uptake, nutrition research capacity development, and gender (briefings and synthesis). ORIE intends to change WINNN’s design and implementation, and contribute to changes in Nigerian nutrition policy and practice. He talks about challenges in implementing ORIE.
One of the ongoing challenges is data and measurement. Different surveys give a wide variation in estimates of, for example, wasting. Going forward ORIE will try and assess the quality of different surveys and try to make a best judgement on what levels and trends are. The challenge of mobilising government resources to deliver services is also discussed. The final challenge discussed concerns the wider environment in Nigeria. For example unimproved drinking water sources, low education among mothers, mothers needing permission from their husbands to go to health facilities alone, having first child at a young age, and low vaccination rates for young children.
He concludes that WINNN is helping to address some of the large nutrition challenges in Northern Nigeria and ORIE is pleased to be part of that. There are important areas of progress but also wider challenges as discussed.
Other HEART talks on WINNN:
Andrew Tomkins on the future of the Working to Improve Nutrition in Northern Nigeria (WINNN) project
Ibrahim Oloriegbe on the Working to Improve Nutrition in Northern Nigeria (WINNN) project