Enabling Environments for Nutrition Advocacy: A Comparison of Infant and Young Child Feeding and Food Fortification in Nigeria

Abstract

The importance of an enabling environment for effective nutrition advocacy is well-recognized, and several key elements of such an environment have been well-established in existing research. However, nutrition policies are multi-faceted, and advocates may target different elements of the policy process, from agenda setting to design to implementation. As a result, enabling environments are neither uniform nor static. Drawing on 66 interviews with a diverse group of stakeholders in Nigeria at the federal and subnational level, we examine some of the factors that have facilitated or hindered the ability of advocates to influence policy implementation in the domains of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) and large-scale food fortification. In doing so, we show the importance of considering the politics, institutions, and resources specific to discrete policy categories as well as the characteristics of the broader policy system in which advocates are operating. By working across these two levels, advocates can both be reactive to the prevailing enabling environment as well as proactively consider strategies for overcoming obstacles.

Keywords: NIGERIA, WEST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, nutrition, environment, advocacy, child feeding, infant feeding, food fortification, institutions, enabling environment, nutrition advocacy, political economy