A diversified, nutritious, and healthy diet is the key to optimal nutrition and health outcomes at all stages of the lifecycle. On the other hand, unhealthy diets are significant contributors to high levels of undernutrition and overweight and obesity. The importance of ensuring optimum nutrition is highest during the first 1,000 days of life – from the beginning of a woman’s pregnancy to a child’s second birthday. It is a time of great potential and enormous vulnerability and can be the difference between a healthy and thriving future and one characterised by ill health and suffering.

In terms of child health & nutrition, among the southwestern states, Oyo state has the highest prevalence of stunting (34.5 percent) among children under five; and two out of three (65 percent) children have anaemia. Furthermore, research shows that six out of ten children in Oyo do not get a diverse diet, nearly 90 percent do not get the number of meals appropriate for their age, and only 5.8 percent get a minimum acceptable diet. While it has been commonplace for people’s knowledge about diet and nutrition for undernutrition, the main obstacle to access is often economic: people may not be able to afford a diversified diet that meets all of their nutritional requirements even if they know what foods to eat, or aspire to eat.

With this in mind, a Cost of Diet (CotD) Assessment was conducted in two LGAs of Oyo state in February 2022, where Save the Children was implementing the “Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN)” project to improve maternal and child nutrition status. The study employed the CotD method and software to identify locally available nutritious foods to meet young children’s nutritional needs at the lowest possible cost. The CotD analysis suggested a list of low-cost, locally available, and culturally acceptable foods that could help meet the nutrient requirements of a standard household or individual in Oyo.

This Recipe Book comprises twenty low-cost nutritious recipes based on food items identified by the Cost of Diet Analysis, considering the availability, price and nutrient content of all food items as well as the food preferences and dietary practices. All the recipes have been developed with the active participation of community members of Ogo Oluwa and Afijio LGAs.

As inadequate nutrient intake is one of the key reasons for maternal and child undernutrition, it is hoped that this recipe book will promote improved dietary choices. In addition, the recipes in this book will be directly promoted through Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) activities and cooking demonstrations by Save the Children in Ogo Oluwa and Afijio LGAs as part of the ANRiN project and act as a critical resource material for the field personnel conducting these activities.