The one-day programme, organised by Catalysing Strengthened Policy Actions for Healthy Diet and Resilience (CASCADE), held at the Primary Healthcare Centre (PHCC), Tudun Wada, as part of activities to commemorate the 2026 World Breastfeeding Week.
The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Breastfeeding for a sustainable start in life: Strengthening what works.’
Project Manager of CASCADE), Isaac Ishaya Audu, said the programme was organised to also strengthen awareness among pregnant and lactating women.
‘I work for CARE International in Nigeria, and we are here in Tudun Wada, Warji Local Government Area, to commemorate World Breastfeeding Week 2026,’ he said.
He explained that the exercise was part of the project’s commitment to expanding awareness among pregnant and lactating mothers, particularly through healthcare facilities, to encourage the adoption of exclusive breastfeeding and promote proper child upbringing.
He said social and cultural norms in some rural communities often discourage women from practising exclusive breastfeeding, a situation that can negatively affect the wellbeing and development of children.
‘Particularly, in terms of supporting cognitive development for children, exclusive breastfeeding contributes significantly to child development, we feel it is a practice that we have to emphasise more among women and ensure that it is taken more seriously,’ Audu said.
He added that CASCADE was working alongside government and other stakeholders to strengthen community-level awareness of exclusive breastfeeding and encourage pregnant and lactating mothers to adopt the practice.
Speaking on nutrition, Audu said breastfeeding should be complemented with appropriate nutrition, noting that CASCADE adopted a facility-based approach over the past four years.
According to him, the organisation has been working closely with the state Primary Healthcare Development Agency across its states of implementation, particularly by leveraging primary healthcare facilities to support pregnant and lactating mothers attending antenatal care (ANC) sessions.
‘We leverage most of these ANC sessions to facilitate complementary feeding sessions as a way of engaging women on multiple recipes that they can produce using locally available food sources. These can help bridge nutrient gaps in children and equally improve access to healthy diets among women and children,’ he said.
In his remarks, the village head of Tudun Wada, Ibrahim Sarki Ahmed, commended the organisers of the programme and the government for ensuring the provision of quality healthcare services.
He also stressed the importance of exclusive breastfeeding in giving children the opportunity to live healthy lives and achieve their full potential. He further noted that education was essential to enabling people to live productive and useful lives.