Socially distanced school-based nutrition program under COVID 19 in the rural Niger Delta

Abstract

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is widely recognized as a complex and contentious space for oil exploration and production. Over the past few decades, the Niger Delta has witnessed large-scale mass peaceful mobilizations and rebellion-like conditions from violent militia groups. Oil companies have been implicated in violence perpetrated by Nigerian security forces. Local host communities have suffered greatly from corruption, political instability, violence and the environmental devastation of their farmlands and fishing grounds. Oil companies have increasingly turned to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to attempt to build or repair relations with oil-producing communities. There are also governmental and non-governmental humanitarian actors supporting various initiatives in the oil-producing areas. This article highlights the challenges that one long running micro-scale development project has faced due to the COVID 19 disease outbreak and the closure of all schools in Rivers State, Nigeria in March 2020. The school closures have halted some initiatives, but our weekly nutritional program has continued in new, socially distanced forms.