Chabash Development and Health Initiative CDHI

One measurement. One life saved.

A simple color-coded tape around a child’s arm, taken in seconds, can determine whether a child lives or is lost to malnutrition.

As the lean season approaches and food becomes increasingly difficult for vulnerable families in Northeast Nigeria, this small measurement becomes even more critical.

In Michika LGA, Chabash Development and Health Initiative CDHI CNMs are actively moving through communities, reaching children before malnutrition takes hold. Using MUAC screening, they identify those at risk and immediately link them to lifesaving nutrition services, ensuring that no child is overlooked.

But time is not on our side. Malnutrition is preventable and treatable, but only when detected early, before it becomes severe.

There is an urgent need to expand screening coverage, strengthen treatment services, and sustain community outreach through the most difficult months ahead. With support from United Nations OCHA Nigeria through the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund ( ), this intervention is already reaching vulnerable children, but far more are still in need.

Every child deserves to be seen. Every child deserves a chance to survive.

Chabash Development and Health Initiative CDHI conducted a one-day Capacity Building Training on Cash for Work and Early Warning Systems for communities in Ajilari and Goni Kachallari of Jere LGA, Borno State, with support from United Nations OCHA Nigeria through . The training was facilitated by the Borno State Environmental Protection Agency (BOSEPA).

The session strengthened participants’ understanding of community-based early warning mechanisms, preparedness measures, and the role of Cash for Work activities in supporting livelihoods and resilience.

Through engagement, learning, and collaboration, community members were equipped with practical knowledge to better respond to challenges and contribute to safer and stronger communities.

At CDHI, we remain committed to supporting sustainable and community-driven interventions that promote resilience and recovery.

After equipping lead mothers with the skills to process grains into Tom Brown flour, Chabash Development and Health Initiative CDHI is now supporting the next critical step, preparation and feeding.

With support from United Nations OCHA Nigeria through , mothers and caregivers are guided on how to properly cook Tom Brown and feed their children, ensuring that locally processed, nutrient-rich food translates into real nutritional benefits for children.

This stage reinforces the importance of not just producing nutritious food, but using it correctly to support the growth and health of children, especially those aged 6–24 months.

By linking knowledge with practice, communities are better equipped to prevent malnutrition and sustain healthier feeding habits at the household level. Together, we can ensure that every child has access to safe, nutritious meals and the opportunity to grow and thrive.

We encourage continued support and collaboration to scale these efforts, so that more children can benefit from improved nutrition and healthier beginnings.

Through our Inclusive, Gender-Sensitive, Lifesaving Multi-Sectoral Nutrition and Health Emergency Response Project, Chabash Development and Health Initiative CDHI recently conducted a medical outreach in Fori community, Jere LGA, funded by the Nigerian Humanitarian Fund (NHF).

The outreach provided essential health services and nutrition support to community members, reinforcing our commitment to improving access to quality care for vulnerable populations.

Every interaction continues to remind us that meaningful impact begins at the community level, through consistent engagement, prevention-focused interventions, and strong collaboration with partners.

When needs are urgent, the most reliable answers often come from within the community itself. Those closest to the challenges are also closest to the solutions.

Through field data collection under the Strengthening Community Economic Resilience (SCER) project, local teams sit with families, listen carefully, and document realities as they are not as they are assumed.

Supported by the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund NHF, this effort ensures that every figure collected represents a real need, guiding decisions that shape timely, relevant, and dignified support.

By grounding interventions in community voices, the process strengthens accountability, ensuring that resources are directed where they are needed most, and that responses can be tracked, measured, and improved. It is how impact is not only delivered, but proven.

This is what effective humanitarian action looks like: informed by people, accountable to people, and driven by evidence.

Support locally informed, data-driven responses, because better data means better outcomes for communities.
United Nations OCHA Nigeria