Nigeria, Aug. 17 -- It was 11 a.m., and the sun was full over Kyaurawa, a remote community in the Birnin Kudu LGA of Jigawa State. Along the narrow, rough pathway surrounded by dry bushes, scattered mud houses and isolated compounds appear intermittently across the quiet landscape.

Inside one of the huts, Halima Umar-Dagaji was cooking beside a pile of firewood. The mother of six lost a child years ago. Like many mothers in the community, Mrs Umar-Dagaji struggled to provide her children with nutritious meals. Families had little knowledge about balanced diets or child nutrition.

"In the morning, we usually eat leftover food from the previous night," she said. "In the afternoon, we cook rice, beans or drink milk. At night, we mostly eat...