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Transparent Lifeline Against Malnutrition (T-LAMP)

T-LAMP (Transparent Lifeline Against Malnutrition Project) is a five-year, evidence-based nutrition programme designed and led by Civil Society – Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN).

See the results
Period
March-August 2026
Where
Kwali Primary Health Care Centre
Overview

About T-LAMP

T-LAMP (Transparent Lifeline Against Malnutrition Project) is a five-year, evidence-based nutrition programme designed and led by Civil Society – Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN). It targets severe acute malnutrition (SAM), moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and maternal anaemia, and it works with the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, the FCT Primary Health Care Board and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). The project responds to a serious gap in Nigeria’s nutrition system.

Treatment reaches only about 20% of SAM cases. Funding is short, and stockouts and diversion of RUTF (ready-to-use therapeutic food) are common. Many families drop out of treatment because of transport costs and financial strain. Even among treated children, 31% relapse within six months. T-LAMP was built to close three gaps: funding, accountability for commodities, and relapse. It rests on two pillars. The first is digital transparency and accountability. A web platform and dashboard track each child’s enrolment, weekly measurements and commodity use, and support photo documentation.

The aim is to prevent diversion and double-treatment. The longer-term design also uses crowdsourced and institutional funding to fill RUTF and micronutrient supply gaps, with real-time tracking so donors can see where resources go. The second pillar is a Relapse Prevention Package, which continues support after treatment. It includes post-discharge follow-up, caregiver counselling, food demonstrations, home gardening, WASH education and, in some cases, cash transfers linked to clinic attendance and growth monitoring.

The first test was a proof of concept at Kwali Primary Health Care Centre in the Federal Capital Territory, from March to August 2026. Twenty children aged 6 to 59 months were treated with weekly RUTF and routine medical care for up to 12 weeks, and recovered children then moved into a three-month follow-up programme with Tom Brown complementary food and growth checks. Fourteen children (70%) fully recovered and two (10%) improved from SAM to MAM, giving 80% overall improvement.

No child died, the default rate was 10%, and two children were referred for specialist care. Existing health workers ran the digital monitoring after light-touch orientation. The pilot showed that digital accountability and post-discharge support can be added to Nigeria’s existing IMAM (Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition) system without disrupting routine services. It was small, so the team presents it as evidence of feasibility, not a final measure of effectiveness.

Next steps include longer post-discharge follow-up, a cost-benefit and scalability analysis, and a stakeholder validation workshop with the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, NPHCDA and Kwali PHC staff. The team then plans a larger multi-site study, pilots in Kaduna and Kano, and moving the dashboard into government nutrition information systems. The longer-term aim is national scale-up backed by domestic funding and philanthropy, with eventual handover to government ownership.

     

Why it matters

Why it matters

Nigeria has the second-highest number of stunted children in the world. Projections for 2024–25 put 5.4 million children at risk of acute malnutrition, including about 1.8 million with severe acute malnutrition (SAM), the deadliest form. Only about 20% of SAM cases nationally receive treatment. The 2025 UNICEF appeal had a 68% funding gap, which led to RUTF stockouts and a black market. Even treated children relapse: 31% within six months. In Kwali, 642 children have been registered since 2018 at the IMAM site, and many defaulted because of transport costs, stockouts and financial strain. Last year, 32 SAM and 64 MAM cases were identified during Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week, and the clinic could not treat them because it was out of RUTF.

80% 16 of the 20 enrolled children either fully recovered (14 children, MUAC of 12.5 cm or more) or moved from severe to moderate acute malnutrition (2 children). If you want a figure that can’t be read as below standard, “0 deaths” is the stronger alternative. The 70% cure rate is slightly under the Sphere benchmark of more than 75%. CS-SUNN, T-LAMP Proof of Concept Summary Report (August 2026), Results & Impact. The same figure appears in the Full Proof of Concept Report, Key Performance Indicators.
Results

What Changed

20 children enrolledChildren aged 6–59 months with acute malnutrition were enrolled in outpatient treatment at Kwali PHC.
70% fully recovered14 of 20 children reached a MUAC (mid-upper arm circumference) of 12.5 cm or more and were discharged as cured, just under the Sphere benchmark of more than 75%.
10% moved out of severe malnutritionTwo children improved from SAM to moderate acute malnutrition (MUAC 12.0 cm and 12.1 cm), bringing overall improvement to 80%.
Zero deathsNo child died during treatment, well inside the Sphere standard of below 10%.
10% default rateTwo children left before finishing treatment, within the Sphere limit of below 15%.
2 children referred for specialist careTwo children did not recover and were referred to higher-level facilities; documented causes included recurrent malaria, persistent diarrhoea and dysentery, and cleft palate.
Big weight gainsEliana Enoch rose from 6.9 kg to 10.0 kg, Sulieman Murtala from 5.0 kg to 7.7 kg, and Hussain Rayanu gained 2.9 kg.
Recovery held after dischargeMost recovered children kept their MUAC above the 12.5 cm recovery threshold at follow-up visits after leaving treatment.
Food insecurity was the biggest household riskOf 15 households assessed, 4 (26.7%) were high risk for food insecurity, and 6 (40%) were moderate risk for dietary diversity.
CS-SUNN, T-LAMP Proof of Concept Report (Weeks 1–12) and Proof of Concept Summary Report (August 2026)
How we worked

Our approach

  1. Found children early Outreach and routine clinic screening checked children aged 6–59 months using MUAC and tests for swelling (oedema).
  2. Treated children at the clinic Each child got a weekly RUTF ration plus routine medical care, including antibiotics, deworming and malaria treatment.
  3. Tracked every child digitally The T-LAMP dashboard logged enrolment, weekly measurements, commodity use and photos, so no child or sachet went unaccounted for.
  4. Visited homes when things went wrong Health workers made home visits for every missed appointment and for any child whose condition worsened.
  5. Taught caregivers Counselling covered infant and young child feeding, dietary diversity, hygiene, handwashing and recognising danger signs.
  6. Kept supporting children after discharge Recovered children joined a three-month follow-up programme with Tom Brown and growth checks.
  7. Assessed each household’s risk A questionnaire on food access, dietary variety and feeding practices guided how much extra support each family needed.
  8. Worked through partners CS-SUNN led delivery, the FCT Primary Health Care Board provided the service backbone, and the Nutrition Society of Nigeria supplied technical expertise.
What we learned

Lessons for scale-up

Find children earlierChildren who arrived with very low MUAC needed longer, more intensive treatment.
Food alone is not enoughRecovery also depended on caregiver knowledge, hygiene, household food security and access to health care.
Weekly checks catch setbacksRegular monitoring let staff spot temporary declines and act before they became failures.
Support must continue after dischargeSeveral children showed small dips in weight or MUAC after leaving treatment, so recovery has to be tracked beyond clinical discharge.
Caregivers make the differenceChildren whose caregivers attended regularly and followed instructions did best.
Digital tracking works with existing staffHealth workers ran the dashboard after light-touch orientation, so it needs no heavy new staffing.
Illness can block recoveryRecurrent malaria, diarrhoea and congenital feeding problems slowed or limited recovery, so clinical care must sit alongside nutrition treatment.
Poverty drives relapseFood insecurity and low dietary diversity can undo treatment, so household support must be part of the package.

Talk to the programme team

Partner with CS-SUNN to fund the next phase, bring the dashboard into government nutrition systems

Help us take T-LAMP from one clinic to many.

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