This section includes analysis of key policy issues relating to young people’s access to food. Its summaries what we know from the research carried out, what we heard from young people and then sets out opportunities to address those challenges. We anticipate that these proposals would enable the Nigerian Government, local government and retailers to improve young people’s access to food in the community and have been tested with our retail customer member, including young members aged 16-25.

1. Local food partnerships in every community Recommendation 1: Local Government council should support the establishment of a local food partnership (LFP) in every local authority area, bringing together local government, businesses, community groups and charities to promote access to nutritious and sustainable food.

All local food partnerships should directly involve young people from the outset. The Government should review what it could do to support the development of LFPs, learning from funding and legislative initiatives taken forward in other developed countries. Research shows that young people are eager to contribute to their community. Yet in our focus groups young people told us that some community spaces that were focused on food did not work well for them.  Local food partnerships (‘LFPs’) provide a mechanism to listen to and address young people’s concerns and young people think they are a good idea: 96% of our retail members aged 16-25 want to see more local food distributions and want to be involved in them. We also suggested local food partnerships.

What are local food partnerships LFPs

These are collaborative networks that bring businesses, not-for-profits and local government together to address food insecurity and improve access to healthy food.

 LFPs involve a range of things including coordinating support for food banks which is something we are trying to see the possibility of introducing in Nigeria and also see to it that its run effectively, community fridges or pantries, running community gardens and farms, providing meal programmes during school holidays and coordinating activity across organisations embedded in the local food network. During the pandemic many LFPs on personal individual level played a vital role in supporting vulnerable groups with access to food, rationalising distribution, advising on policies on social media and ensuring that limited resources were focused on the people that needed it most.

Many LFPs are funded and hosted by local authorities, however some are hosted and led by community organisations with the engagement and support of their local council, through funding, resources, facilities and expertise. Securing the active support of the local authority is key because local Government councils hold many of the responsibilities, powers, resources, and influence that can make LFPs effective.

Some devolved nations can take steps to support LFPs. There are several examples to refer to in some of the advanced developed nations in the world.  For example, as read on the internet, Welsh Government allocated £2.5m funding to support every local authority in Wales to develop a local food partnership. An interim analysis of the funding by the University of the West of England found the scheme had accelerated development of LFPs in Wales and provided a platform for organisations to respond more strategically to local food issues. This kind of recommendation for Local councils is relevant to all local authorities in Nigeria, who are interested in setting up an LFP. The proposed review by the Government should focus on how to support LFPs in Nigeria learning from other devolved nations of the world which their governments already have their own frameworks for supporting LFPs. A recipe for success: How does children and young people want to access food in their communities? This is a question to put in mind.

What needs to change

We call on all local authorities to support the development of an LFP in their area, working alongside supportive businesses, charities, community groups and infrastructure networks, Royal Children Foundation and Sustainable Food Places. While some already LFPs involve young people, local authorities should ensure young people are directly involved in all LFPs from the outset. We also call on the Nigerian Government to consider what it could do to support the development of LFPs in every local authority area, learning from funding and legislative initiatives in some other devolved nations. How local food partnerships can support young people: they can also create or run like a ‘Veg City Challenge’ to encourage more young people to eat healthy food in the area. They can also invited caterers and chefs to pitch new recipes to appeal to teenagers in Nigeria.

Expanding retail discount schemes to all young people. Retailers should consider ways that 16- and 17-year-olds can access discounted food by amending the terms of their retail discount schemes or considering the introduction of other discounts. What we do know is that many young people face high levels of food insecurity and in our focus groups young people told us cost was a major concern for them. Young people want retailers to take action: 97% of people aged 16-25 think retailers should look at ways of increasing access to affordable food for young people, particularly as they become more independent.

There is What we called retail discount schemes for many 16- and 17-year-olds.

Price and affordability prove a major barrier to accessing nutritious food. This is particularly true for young people who are responsible for buying their own food or food for others they care for. Most large food retailers offer retail discount schemes that require individuals to sign up, enabling them to purchase a range of products at discounted prices.  Some offers membership which enables members to buy a range of products at a discounted price. These products are selected because they are the goods bought most. Members also get access to additional personalised discounts on a weekly basis. This means that any 16- or 17-year-old who lives independently cannot access the cost savings on food that these schemes can offer. There are also schemes such as student cards which can be introduced, those aged under 18 can join and many businesses, including food retailers, offer discounts if these cards are presented at checkout.

What needs to change

Retailers whose schemes cannot currently be used by 16- and 17-year-olds living independently should consider allowing them to join their schemes or offer access to discounted food via other types of discounts.

Our Recommendations are: The Government should set out plans to build on the Holiday Activities and Food Programme to address holiday hunger. This should include changes to ensure that programmes are put in place to benefit all children in households to receive some sort of support and work for teenagers as well as younger children.

What we know

Evidence according to our report on children under 18 shows that many experience holiday hunger when school food is not available. To address holiday hunger the Nigerian Government should launch a Holiday Activities and Food Programme (‘HAF’) as a means of help with the hope of expanded the scheme in subsequent years. In our focus groups some young people had suggested that the HAF programme  should be tailored in a way to achieve a positive result in that it should not only be available but be appealing for all teenagers. The programme also has benefits beyond addressing hunger; parents of young people attending the programme reported less stress and 73% said their children were less likely to engage in antisocial behavior. While the HAF scheme is likely to be a success, the Royal Children Foundation is putting a plan in place to be a major player, it is important subsequent Government policy interventions should be put in place to aid and improve on our existing model. One of the key shortcomings in the existing practice is that it only provides funding for places for children that are orphans.  Some other school children living in poverty were not eligible for free school meals. Another key issue with the scheme is uptake, particularly amongst teenagers. Further analysis has shown that uptake is particularly low amongst young people aged 13-19. Delivery models should be tested by the Government, aimed at increasing uptake amongst 13 – 19 years old , it can help  involving young people in design and ownership of projects and adapting projects to local areas can lead to increase weekly turnout exceeding,   A greater focus on co-design and ownership are needed to ensure the programme works for teenagers as well as younger children.

Scope: This recommendation is relevant to all retailers operating in Nigeria. Scope: How do children and young people want to access food in their communities? A recipe for success: How does children and young people want to access food in their communities? Bringing Food into Youth Services Recommendation, Young people should be consulted on food provision and on opportunities to develop cooking skills in these services.  Young people also told us about their interest in improving cooking skills. Despite their interest research shows that some young people do not have facilities or resources to cook at home.

About Youth Services: There are a range of services for young people in the community that can be explored, from after-school clubs to youth groups and clubs. Food provision is often part of this offer and provides many young people with access to healthy food between school, college or work and returning home. Family hubs are one other type of provision that sits alongside other services for young people. Family Hubs exist in many communities and aim to offer support to parents, carers and children, working with everyone from pregnant mothers to teenagers.

Family Hubs can operate in spaces designed with multiple purposes in mind. For example, this could include facilities to support young people aged 0-19 with accessing food, cooking spaces and social spaces. For example, there are around 400 Family Hubs covering half of all county councils in England. If introduced in Nigeria, the proposed Young Futures Hubs will be another form of support for young people. The Government interest should be to Committe to creating as many as Young Futures Hubs across the country.

The suggestion is that they focus on support for teenagers at risk of being drawn into crime or facing mental health challenges and, where appropriate, deliver universal youth provision. What we need to ensure is that Young Futures Hubs and other support services, such as after school clubs, youth work, and Family Hubs, provide a joined-up offer to young people that makes the best use of available spaces and resources in every community. Children and young people – like adults – see food as a catalyst for bringing people together and resolving division. It is therefore critical that food provision is a fundamental part of youth provision across the board. Young people should be consulted on food provision in these services and on any opportunities to develop cooking skills as part of their offer. It is important that Young Futures Hubs and other support services, such as Family Hubs, provide a joined-up offer to young people that makes the best use of available spaces and resources in every community.

Ensuring all young people can afford food essentials Recommendation:

The Government should equalise the value of payments for all age groups to make sure that under 25s can afford essentials such as food. What we know is that young people with the least resources are most concerned about food costs. They also must spend the largest proportion of their income to afford a nutritious diet. The cost of food was also consistently raised by young people in our focus groups, alongside other cost barriers to accessing food such as transport costs. This is despite the fact that under 25s are the age group at greatest risk of experiencing destitution. This is when an individual’s most basic needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed cannot be met. Royal children Foundation’s research has also found that there are unfairly impacts young people who have grown up in care, since they are far less likely to have access to financial support from their own family.  

We employ our government to put policy in place that can aid the living standards of younger people by design and can particularly positively affect young people leaving the care system and living independently for the first time. 

The geographic scope of the Young Futures Hubs is not yet known. Existing schemes of this nature are typically devolved. Social security policy largely reserved in the UK Government should be adopted. 

A recipe for success: How does children and young people want to access food in their communities?  Our individual partnerships and Royal Children Foundation are working to bring local communities together to support the positive futures of young people in Nigeria. Our partnership launched in March 2023, after research found that a third of young people do not feel positive about their future. Together, we aim to raise #50 million to support 750,000 young people to access basic needs like food, improve their mental wellbeing, and create better opportunities for their future.

How are we supporting young people?  Some partnership services have been established in areas which most need support, as identified using  data  from our resent local research, these projects, which have been codesigned with local young people, are tailored to local needs and include a wide range of activities largely focused on food, wellbeing, and building life skills in safe, supportive environments. To reach beyond far and near we intend to develop an online support offer on social media that young people can use to look for information and advice. Digital content designed and produced by and for young people, e.g  teenagers can be helped combat food waste in the heart of their community by setting up free cooking classes using surplus food. Young carer Scarlet, 15, is one of a group of teenagers that helped co-design Plymouth Change Makers, a service supporting young people to make positive changes. They have set up ‘Take Away Tuesdays’, open to 10 to 25-year-olds at free drop-in sessions across the Plymouth area. “A lot of young people are worried about food at the moment,” said Scarlet. “When we were designing this service, we spoke to over 100 other young people, and lots of them said that they didn’t get much food because of the cost-of-living crisis.” The project will offer vital wellbeing support and opportunities while helping to maintain a healthier living environment. This should include considering auto-enrolment in the scheme as well as ways of raising awareness of the scheme.

Support for young parents Recommendation: Royal Children Foundation is planning to schedule a meeting with the Government to consider setting out plans to review what we call the Healthy Start scheme. The review is looking at the amount that can be given to parents in line with inflation and should be updated at least every year. The review should also look at ways of increasing uptake of the scheme, particularly amongst younger parents. This should include considering auto-enrolment in the scheme as well as ways of raising awareness of the scheme.

What we know is young parents are particularly likely to struggle to afford essentials including food. We also know that food insecurity amongst mothers can lead to maternal depression and is linked to obesity amongst children as they get older. As noted above, young people in the focus groups told us they were particularly concerned about being able to afford the food they needed.  About the Healthy Start Scheme, the Healthy Start Scheme will provide an important resource for young parents struggling with food costs. The scheme will also be available to pregnant women or families with children under four.   The scheme’s allowances should increase in line with inflation as the year goes by and be reviewed at least on a yearly basis to ensure sufficient support is available for young parents. Poor uptake of Healthy Start also leaves an estimated of more than 200,000 low-income families without support, including many young parents.  The Government should consider auto-enrolment in the scheme alongside other means of raising awareness to increase uptake, particularly amongst younger parents. 

A recipe for success: How does children and young people want to access food in their communities?  Our individual organisations contributed to the creation of this report: At the Royal Children Foundation, our purpose is clear – changing childhoods and changing lives, so that children, young people, and families are safe, happy, healthy, and hopeful. Last year, we provided essential support to 400,200 children, young people, parents and carers through more than five services in Nigeria. For over 12 years, we’ve been here for the children and young people who need us most – bringing love, care and hope into their lives and giving them a place where they feel they belong. More than 1 in 10 young people (12%) experience ‘very low food security’, more than double the rate compared to other age groups. Very low food security is when a person disrupts their eating patterns or reduces their food intake because they lack money or other resources for food.

A quarter of parents in Britain struggle to provide enough food for their children 

More than a quarter of parents (25%) in Nigeria with children aged 18 and under say they struggled to provide sufficient food for their children over the past 12 months due to the current cost of living situation.