The Porridge Mums: Sustainable Solutions to Child Malnutrition

Nigeria has endured over a decade of food insecurity and is now facing an unprecedented hunger crisis. According to the Cadre Harmonisé May 2026 analysis, an estimated 36 million people are facing acute food insecurity, with 6.4 million severely malnourished children at the heart of the crisis (2025 IPC analysis). With funding shortfalls and overburdened health and nutrition systems struggling to respond, innovative solutions to address malnutrition among children have become indispensable. 

Action Against Hunger introduced the Porridge Mums program in Nigeria in 2016. The initiative aims to mobilize mothers and equip them with the skills to prepare a nutritious, affordable porridge made from locally sourced ingredients that supports the recovery of children with moderate malnutrition. 

Tom Brown: A Local Recipe Against Malnutrition

Action Against Hunger launched the initiative in rural Sokoto, a state in North-Western Nigeria, in 2024, where households face high levels of food insecurity. Amina Abdulrasheed, a health and nutrition expert at Action Against Hunger, has been closely supporting rural communities in Dabaga and is familiar with the challenges they face: “In the past, the Dabaga community had a high number of malnutrition cases due to several challenges, including open defecation and the complete lack of clean drinking water. When our teams arrived, the first action we took was to construct a water borehole.” 

With the establishment of an outpatient clinic providing free medical care and improved access to clean water, the situation in these communities has significantly improved. “Even though the situation has improved, the key challenge is ensuring that it remains stable without any deterioration”, explains Amina. “The majority of the women in these communities don’t have formal education, and this is our main challenge. We’re trying to pass the knowledge through the care group meetings on the importance of hygiene, for example, washing hands before giving food or giving a bath to children”.  

Mothers’ groups prepare Tom Brown using the fried method, a process that helps to ensure nutritional quality. First, the group of women gathers together to clean the soybeans. The process can take a couple of hours to reach the frying stage, until they turn golden. Once prepared, the millet and sorghum are dried in the shade, as exposure to the sun can reduce their nutritional value. The success of the formula depends on the right balance. The women use a standard milk tin to measure the ingredients. The rule is the 6:3:1 ratio: six tins of grain, three tins of soya beans, and one tin of groundnuts. 

“We always prioritize local ingredients. For example, in this community, wheat is not commonly consumed. Instead, people rely on sorghum, millet, and soya beans that are locally available and selected by the community themselves”, explains Amina, who oversees the entire process of the Tom Brown preparation. 

When the grinding is complete, another group of women obtains a powder. Then, the porridge is cooked on the stove and left to cool before being distributed to the families. “Each mother receives around 3kg of the porridge, which will last for more or less two weeks.”  

This careful preparation helps preserve nutrients while making the porridge safe and suitable for young children. Introducing the porridge to children is not always easy, as Tom Brown can have a slightly bitter taste. However, the Porridge Mums have developed simple techniques for gently enhancing the flavor with honey or sugar. 

Building Communities of Empowered Mothers and Caregivers 

Tom Brown’s preparation is not simply about cooking lessons. Beyond teaching how to prepare a nutritious meal, the ambition is to create a safe space where mothers of all ages and backgrounds can come together. Despite their differences, they share a common experience: caring for a child diagnosed with moderate malnutrition. 

This collective space facilitates dialogue and mutual support, facilitated by a Lead Mother, often a trusted, active community member like Zuwaira Shehu. She comes from the Dabaga community and plays a key role in motivating women to join cooking sessions and involving them in other village activities. Even though only women join the Porridge Mums, Zuwaira believes the whole community must play a part. To her, real progress only happens when men and women work side by side. 

“Together with other volunteers, we go from door to door to raise awareness among pregnant women about hygiene, hunger, and thirst,” says Zuwaira. “In the beginning, people were angry, but we kept coming, and now we are seeing progress. Pregnant women go to antenatal care even before we invite them!”  

Zuwaira is a true role model for other women and takes great pride in her work. She and her husband lost five of their young children to water-borne sickness that could have been avoided if treated properly. Nevertheless, she turned that grief into a way to help her neighbors, and today, she leads the Porridge Mum group to ensure other families do not suffer the same pain. 

Easily prepared and widely accessible, Tom Brown reduces reliance on costly medications, which are often difficult to access in remote rural areas.

“Our role is to guide the process and demonstrate preparation techniques so women can independently prepare the porridge and share their skills with others,” explains Amina Abdulrasheed. “When communities have the right tools, they can identify and treat malnutrition cases before they become emergencies”.

While it cannot replace essential medical care, Tom Brown supports children recovering from malnutrition outside hospital settings and helps prevent them from falling back into malnutrition.