The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has commenced efforts to develop a national framework for the production and use of Tom Brown, a locally produced complementary food, as part of measures to tackle malnutrition among children and other vulnerable groups in Nigeria.
Speaking at the opening of the three-day stakeholders’ meeting on the policy dialogue for establishing a unified framework for Tom Brown in Nigeria, held in Abuja, the Director and Head of the Nutrition Department of the ministry, Mrs. Olufunmilola Adegbite, said the move was aimed at harmonising the production, quality assurance and implementation of Tom Brown across the country.
She noted that despite progress in nutrition interventions, malnutrition remains a major public health challenge in the country, with undernutrition, stunting, wasting and micronutrient deficiencies continuing to affect millions of children.
She said the federal government has prioritised food-based strategies that promote the use of locally available and nutrient-dense foods to improve nutrition outcomes.
“Tom Brown, a traditional complementary food made from a blend of cereals and legumes, has gained wide recognition for its potential to contribute to improved dietary intake among young children.
However, its preparation, nutrient composition, hygiene, quality control and scalability remain inconsistent across the country,” she said.
Adegbite explained that the proposed framework would provide national standards for the production and utilisation of Tom Brown, ensuring it remains a safe, affordable and culturally acceptable option for addressing malnutrition.
She added that the framework would also offer technical guidance to households, small-scale producers, state governments and development partners involved in nutrition programming.
“Our goal is to institutionalise this home-grown solution as a viable, affordable and culturally acceptable complementary food option for combating malnutrition,” she stated.
Also speaking, the Country Representative of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Nigeria, Hakeem Kikonda, said the organisation has been supporting efforts to address child malnutrition in Nigeria for more than two decades.
Kikonda described Tom Brown as one of the key approaches used by CRS in treating moderately malnourished children, noting that the locally produced food has recorded significant success in helping affected children recover.
He said the policy development process began with an initial stakeholders’ dialogue held in November 2025, after which a draft document was prepared and circulated for review.
According to him, the current meeting brought together additional stakeholders, including representatives of United Nations agencies, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), ministries, departments and agencies, to enrich the document before its finalisation.
“Developing a policy framework takes time and involves many stakeholders. We wanted to ensure that everyone involved in the implementation of Tom Brown has an opportunity to contribute to the document,” he said.
Kikonda expressed optimism that the workshop would produce a robust draft framework that would pave the way for national standardisation.
He stressed the importance of establishing standards for Tom Brown, particularly because it is used in the management of moderate acute malnutrition among children.
“We need a standard way of doing things to ensure that the product contains all the nutrients children need and that we are not giving them a product that could cause harm instead of good,” he said.
While noting that Tom Brown is commonly used in the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition, Kikonda explained that it is essentially a nutritious food that can also be consumed by healthy children and adults.
“It is not only for malnourished children. Tom Brown is food, and any child can take it as part of efforts to prevent malnutrition. However, it has proven particularly effective in helping children recover from moderate acute malnutrition,” he added.
Stakeholders at the meeting are expected to review existing drafts and agree on a unified national framework that will guide the production, quality assurance and use of Tom Brown in nutrition programmes across Nigeria.
