A nutrition scientist, Onyedika Gabriel Ani, has introduced a policy framework that could help tackle rising cases of malnutrition, obesity and diet-related diseases linked to rapid urbanisation in Africa.

Published in the Journal of Dietetics, the study, titled “Improving Health through Sustainable and Healthy Urban Food System Policy in Nigeria”, outlines a science-based approach to improving nutrition, public health, and sustainability in African cities.

Ani, a researcher in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri–Columbia, USA, examined how rising rates of metabolic disease intersect with food access, sanitation, and governance in fast-growing urban centres.

According to him, the study was inspired by the fact that rapid urbanisation in many African cities has outpaced the development of coordinated food, nutrition, and public health policies, leaving the growing populations vulnerable to diet-related chronic diseases; hence, the need for an urban food policy.

“The intended impact of the framework is to provide policymakers, city planners, and public-health leaders with a practical, data-driven tool for improving nutrition, reducing health disparities, and strengthening urban food governance,” Ani said.

Using the industrial city of Nnewi in southeastern Nigeria as a case study, the researcher analysed how weak nutrition infrastructure and fragmented food policies contribute to obesity, diabetes, and micronutrient deficiencies.

Drawing on the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and frameworks from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Ani said the models were adapted to reflect local cultural, economic, and governance realities in Nigeria.

The study identified systemic contributors to poor urban health outcomes, including limited access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, food insecurity, and socioeconomic inequality.

To address these gaps, Ani proposed a six-pillar intervention strategy encompassing municipal food policy autonomy, school-based nutrition education reform, urban agriculture infrastructure, targeted food assistance programmes, strengthened farmer-to-consumer supply chains, and circular economy approaches to reduce food waste.

He noted that the study introduced a 44-indicator monitoring and evaluation tool adapted from FAO metrics to enable city governments to track progress annually using standardised quantitative and self-assessment measures, offering a practical mechanism for accountability and long-term planning.

According to Ani, the model provides a replicable, evidence-driven template that policymakers and international development agencies can adapt across the region.

He noted that as global health organisations increasingly emphasised food systems as a cornerstone of chronic disease prevention, the study contributes a scientifically grounded, context-specific strategy aimed at improving urban health outcomes across the Global South.