Gombe mothers turn to sweet potatoes to rescue malnourished children

Aisha Gambo, a Gombe mother is displaying potatoes on her farmland. | Credit: Chima Azubuike.

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At first glance, seven-month-old Adamu looks like any other infant, swaddled and lying quietly on a narrow hospital bed inside the Federal Medical Centre, Kumo. But beneath that calm exterior, he is fighting for his life. Weighing just 2.9 kilograms, Adamu is battling severe acute malnutrition. His mother, Aisha Gambo, sits beside him, her eyes fixed on him with a mixture of fear and helplessness. She recalls that he was born healthy, but his decline began suddenly at four months.

“We clocked seven months recently, and he was all fine until he fell ill. We were referred to Kumo from Kaltungo, and they put him on a special diet. We are trying our best to ensure his well-being, but it’s a pity that we have not been getting it right,” she said.

Cases like Adamu’s remain tragically common in Gombe State, where malnutrition continues to cut short the lives of children under five. Yet in the midst of these challenges, change is emerging quietly, steadily, and from an unexpected source: the bright, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes.

For 21-year-old Sandra Bala, her daughter’s improved health did not begin with a hospital visit, but with the introduction of complementary feeding after six months of exclusive breastfeeding. Her baby, now eight months old, had been frequently ill until she adopted the method introduced by health workers.

She said, “Since I introduced my baby to complementary feeding after six months of exclusive breastfeeding, she has never fallen sick. I have no regrets. I will introduce a similar method to my children.”

Her story became the starting point for this investigation, one that led to Kalorgu, a remote farming community in Kaltungo Local Government Area, where a nutrition revolution is unfolding beneath the red, fertile soil.

In Kalorgu, generations of families have endured cycles of poor harvests, limited food diversity, and minimal access to health information. These challenges have kept malnutrition at the centre of community struggles. But the introduction of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potatoes (OFSP), supported by targeted nutrition programmes, is reshaping the survival odds for young children.

OFSP is rich in Vitamin A, a nutrient essential for growth, immunity, and especially eye health. It fits seamlessly into local diets, requires minimal inputs to grow, and can be prepared in multiple forms—attributes that are proving crucial for households trying to protect their children’s health.

For Aisha Muhammed Aliyu, a young mother in Kalorgu, the transformation brought by OFSP still feels almost unbelievable. Her child had lived with persistent eye redness and itching since birth. She had spent months seeking traditional remedies with little success.

All that changed when she began feeding him OFSP regularly.

“I fry it, boil it, or dry it and make gruel with it,” she said, her face lit with relief. “After feeding him consistently, the eye problem he was born with disappeared. I tell other mothers to try it too.”

For Aisha, OFSP became more than a meal; it became the cure she had long prayed for.

Another mother in the community, popularly known as Mommy Abubakar, said her child’s growth improved dramatically after she introduced OFSP into his diet. Before then, the child appeared weak and lagged behind in weight gain, a worrying sign for a mother already struggling to meet feeding demands.

She noticed visible changes after consistency with the orange-fleshed crop. The child became stronger, more active, and healthier than before. For her, OFSP filled a nutritional gap that household meals often could not cover.

For some families, OFSP is doing more than improving health; it is offering financial relief. Amina Isa, a mother of three in Kalorgu, once feared her children were becoming thin and weak. Today, not only has their health improved, but she has also found a new source of income through the crop.

“We eat it, and I sell the vines, tubers, and even the leaves,” she said. “It helps with nutrition and helps with money.”

In communities where women rarely have independent earnings, OFSP is empowering them economically while improving their children’s nutrition.

While families adopt OFSP for children from seven to 23 months, the Gombe State Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund are also addressing acute malnutrition in the state. In January, the government announced the procurement of 5,830 cartons of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, the primary treatment for severe wasting, to treat more than 6,529 children.

UNICEF’s Chief of the Bauchi Field Office, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, noted that the state’s 2023 contribution of ₦175 million, matched by UNICEF, “enabled the procurement of these life-saving supplies,” she added.

Much of the progress seen in Kalorgu is driven by the PARSNIP initiative:  Progressing Action on Resilient Systems for Nutrition through Innovation and Partnership. Supported by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and implemented by UNICEF in collaboration with the Gombe State Government, PARSNIP aims to prevent malnutrition before it begins.

UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Philomena Irene, described it as a system-strengthening intervention designed to enhance infant and young child feeding practices, improve early detection of malnutrition, and reinforce treatment services across communities and health facilities.

Between 2023 and 2025, more than 106,000 children received Small Quantity Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements, which provide essential micronutrients during the critical growth period. She added, “Over 20,000 caregivers were also trained on the use of MUAC tapes and proper feeding practices, equipping them to detect malnutrition early and make informed nutrition decisions at home.”

Irene emphasised that the initiative goes beyond immediate nutritional needs. It builds long-term resilience by aligning multi-sectoral collaboration across agriculture, water and sanitation, social protection, and the health system.

Gombe State Nutrition Officer, Mohammed Bawa, explained that introducing OFSP to communities like Kalorgu was a deliberate, evidence-based strategy. The crop’s nutritional profile, compatibility with local meals, and ease of cultivation made it an ideal solution for addressing widespread micronutrient deficiency.

“Women are trained to cultivate, process, and sell the potatoes, vines, and leaves,” he said. “It strengthens nutrition and brings income into households. The children are responding well. We hope this programme is extended to more LGAs so no child is left behind.”

At Kalorgu Primary Health Care Centre, Facility Manager Rona Yaro ensures that nutrition education begins during pregnancy. “Every week, pregnant women attending antenatal clinics are introduced to OFSP, shown how to incorporate it into meals, and encouraged to use it as a complementary food after exclusive breastfeeding,” Yaro said.

Yaro explained that the crop’s high Vitamin A content and essential micronutrients support a child’s growth and development, especially when introduced early and consistently. “Routine screenings, community outreach, and prompt referrals help ensure that no malnourished child slips through the cracks,” she added.

Malnutrition remains one of the deadliest yet least-discussed emergencies confronting children in Gombe State and across Nigeria’s northern region. Health workers say the situation is worsening as poverty deepens, food insecurity expands, and conflict continues to push rural families away from their farmlands. During this investigation, medical professionals, development actors, and caregivers repeatedly described a pattern of preventable suffering driven by systemic neglect, poor awareness, and fragile primary healthcare systems.

At the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, frontline specialists encounter such cases daily. Speaking on the issue, Dr Ebisike Kelechi, a consultant paediatric gastroenterologist and nutritionist at the hospital and a member of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, said malnutrition accounts for about 45 per cent of deaths among children aged seven to 23 months.

He said, “Malnutrition is linked to about 45 per cent of deaths among children under five. Many factors contribute to malnutrition in children, including the lack of exclusive breastfeeding. Exclusive breastfeeding is the practice of giving a newborn baby only breast milk, on demand, from the first hour of life up to six months of age. It forms the foundation of good health and adequate nutrition for infants. Unfortunately, only 34 per cent of Nigerian children are exclusively breastfed—far below the 50 per cent target set by the World Health Organisation for 2025.”

Field investigations across informal settlements and rural communities in Gombe reveal that many mothers either lack accurate information or are unable to practise optimal infant feeding due to economic hardship. According to Kelechi, knowledge gaps remain a major driver of the crisis.

He explained, “Maternal ignorance of nutrition for under-five children is a key issue. Beyond six months of age, breast milk alone becomes inadequate to sustain the rapid cell growth occurring in infants, making complementary feeding necessary. However, many mothers are unaware of appropriate complementary foods, while some continue giving only breast milk and water beyond six months. These practices eventually lead to malnutrition.

“Poverty and food insecurity also play a major role. Many families cannot afford adequate food for their children and are forced to feed them whatever is available at home—often, mainly carbohydrate-based meals. Such monotonous feeding cannot provide a balanced diet needed for adequate growth.

“Poor personal hygiene and sanitation further predispose children to recurrent infections, which affect growth. Recurrent diarrhoeal diseases are the most common illnesses leading to malnutrition in our environment. Conflicts and natural disasters, particularly in North-Eastern and North-Western Nigeria, disrupt livelihoods, displace families, and undermine farming and food security.

“Poor health-seeking behaviour is another factor. In our environment, many people visit health facilities only when they are seriously ill, if at all. Routine visits for immunisation and well-baby clinics provide opportunities to assess anthropometric measurements such as weight, height and head circumference. These assessments help detect early growth faltering, allowing for timely nutritional counselling.”

The convergence of these factors, experts warn, has turned malnutrition into not just a health challenge but a developmental and humanitarian emergency. This investigation documented several caregivers who had lost children to preventable complications linked to poor diets and repeated diarrhoeal infections. Many said they were unaware of the need for dietary diversity or routine clinic visits, while others blamed rising food prices, displacement and the collapse of rural livelihoods.

Kelechi stressed that reversing the trend requires an aggressive, multi-sectoral response. He said, “More needs to be done to educate the public—especially mothers—on infant and young child feeding practices, including exclusive breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding. Government and non-governmental organisations must empower families economically to improve food security, ensuring children have access to balanced diets.

“Furthermore, there should be intensified campaigns to educate the public on the negative impact of poor hygiene and sanitation on children’s nutritional status. Recurrent infections, particularly diarrhoeal diseases resulting from poor sanitation, contribute significantly to malnutrition. The government must also improve security so families can safely engage in agriculture, increasing food availability. Lastly, the public should be educated on the importance of regular hospital visits, even at primary healthcare facilities, to routinely monitor children’s growth and detect early deviations from normal nutrition.”

Some development partners have introduced supplementary interventions in recent years, including Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potatoes (OFSP) and Small-Quantity Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements (SQ-LNS), aimed at providing essential micronutrients and supporting recovery among children with moderate acute malnutrition. However, awareness of these interventions remains limited.

On their impact, Dr Kelechi said, “We have not heard many testimonies around these interventions. This is largely because most malnourished children we manage present with acute complications requiring inpatient care. After discharge, they are referred to outpatient clinics. SQ-LNS and Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potatoes are usually supplied to selected primary healthcare centres that follow up children during nutritional rehabilitation.”

Findings from the investigation reveal a wide gap between policy intentions and realities on the ground. Many rural primary health centres in Gombe lack consistent supplies of therapeutic foods, while others grapple with understaffing and poor record-keeping, hindering early detection of growth faltering. Families, meanwhile, continue to rely on limited rations and uncertain support.

Despite these challenges, experts insist the solutions are clear: sustained public education, improved food security, strengthened health systems and firm political commitment. As Dr Kelechi’s insights show, malnutrition is not merely a consequence of hunger but the cumulative outcome of neglect, misinformation, poverty, insecurity and fragile social systems. Without urgent, coordinated action, thousands more children remain at risk of preventable deaths.

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