Business Innovation to Combat Malnutrition Case Study Series 59433 v2 A School Feeding Program in Nigeria: Tetra Pak's Business and Development Goal Case B CSM Deputy Director AUGUST 2006. After the meeting with His easily have been paid for from the outset. All Dr. Aileen Ionescu-Somers Excellency Alhaji (Dr) Abdullahi Adamu, the had recognized that this had been a flaw in the prepared this case with Professor Ulrich Steger as Executive Governor of Nasarawa State in program design. H.E. Governor Dr Abdullahi a basis for class discussion December 2005, Bjorn Wille and Mandla Mbau Adamu had agreed to recruit a Nigerian execu- rather than to illustrate felt that they had got their message squarely tive director and Tetra Pak had committed to either effective or ineffective across. H.E. Governor Dr Abdullahi Adamu recruiting a counterpart to work full time at the handling of a business situation. had been taken by surprise by some of the program site and groom and mentor the execu- details he was given about the delays, the penal- tive director. This case was commissioned ties, the extra costs... Given H.E. Governor by the World Bank Institute Dr Abdullahi Adamu's powerful position, the H.E. Governor Dr Abdullahi Adamu undertook (WBI) with the support of the Global Alliance for Improved program management team had not brought to upgrade the government houses in which Nutrition (GAIN). up these finicky operational problems directly Tetra Pak staff worked. Mbau would work with him. There was a clear leadership gap that hard to support efforts for the all-important It was developed with input might have been avoided if a local executive localization of the product, and the Tetra Pak from the staffs of the Tetra Pak Food for Development director and the continuous local presence of team would continue to capacity-build and Office, the Government of a Food for Development Office consultant had keep the funding flow going. Nine months later, the State of Nasarawa in been planned from the outset. H.E. Governor a lot more water had run under the bridge. In Nigeria, WBI, GAIN, Helen Dr Abdullahi Adamu agreed with Wille and June 2006, Mbau had asked to meet with Wille Keller International, the Solae Company and Good Hope Mbau that action needed to be taken so that to tender his resignation. It was time for him International. The contribution the legacy he had dreamt of leaving was out to move on. In September 2006, before he left, of all parties is gratefully of danger. He resolved to insist upon account- they discussed latest developments. Had they acknowledged. ability ­ in the case of the de-worming product, overlooked anything and was there further for example, he was going to insist that every room to maneuver? unit be accounted for before approving further disbursements of funds. In January 2006, Wille and Mbau felt that they had an opportunity for a fresh start. They had They had agreed that the human resources cleared the air with H.E. Governor Dr Abdul- problem was the main sticking point. A senior lahi Adamu, corrected any misconceptions and executive director needed to be appointed to managed to convince him to commit to some head the program staff and provide the leader- fundamental changes. Their main concern ship the program was so sorely missing. So had been that Tetra Pak should not be dragged much money had been wasted on delays and down with a failing program. But now things Eu na se port and LoC penalties that a position could looked more optimistic. They felt inspired to M C ro ge W a a pe m rit W Fo t De A an en ing in un ve wa ne d lo rd r o ati pm f on e 20 Copyright © 2006, IMD - International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland; WBI - World Bank Institute, Washington, DC, United States, and GAIN - Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Geneva, Switzerland. Not to be used or reproduced without written permission directly from IMD. fo nt The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors only. 07 r set about making the changes and achieving Tetra third term of office. In the face of huge political and Pak's altruistic and commercial goals. public opposition, the president backed down. The key question was ­ would the next president be H.E. In the immediate term, H.E. Governor Dr Abdullahi Governor Dr Abdullahi Adamu? Adamu was true to his word. When the program staff sent an invoice in January for stocking a sup- Wille set about recruiting a counterpart for the ply of de-worming agent for 2006, H.E. Governor executive director. It was no easy task. The Tetra Dr Abdullahi Adamu refused to sign and asked for Pak West Africa office was small and had no human each unit to be accounted for. Fears of corruption resources department. Hiring the counterpart was were calmed. It transpired that imperfections in the a time-consuming process. Wille advertised, sorted monitoring process had contributed to lack of ac- and filtered the applications himself and finally countability for the drug. This was corrected. arrived at a short list. Wille and Brian McGuinness, MD for Tetra Pak West Africa, finally selected Julian In February, H.E. Governor Dr Abdullahi Adamu Wolfson in April 2006. Wolfson was a 29-year-old made a momentous decision. He would run for Canadian citizen with a strong academic back- President in the 2007 elections. This was mainly ground in nutrition, as well as excellent project good news, but there were a certain number of management skills. In spite of his youth, he had short-term and potentially long-term drawbacks worked with feeding and nutrition projects both associated with this move. H.E. Governor Dr Abdul- in Africa (Ghana) and in other highly challenging lahi Adamu was an inspiring politician, but if he environments such as Afghanistan. He also had did not win and the opposition went into office, the first-hand experience of impact assessment studies, school feeding program could potentially be jeop- and was familiar with the work of GAIN. Wille and ardized unless a successor were wholly convinced McGuinness took the view that, being young and of its merits. Without localization of production dynamic, Wolfson would have the necessary drive firmly in place, it would be difficult to convince. If and energy to push the program, while remaining H.E. Governor Dr Abdullahi Adamu did win, the flexible and receptive to advice and guidance. The continuity of the program was definitely assured, initial plan was that he would start work at the pro- and probably on a national scale. However, in the gram location in Lafia, Nasarawa in June 2006. immediate term, this also meant that, busy at the best of times, H.E. Governor Dr Abdullahi Adamu Markus Huet, the FfDO consultant based in Malay- would be pulled in every direction as he got his sia had lent some valuable support to the program campaign off the ground while trying to assure design and subsequently to capacity-building efforts. business as normal in his state. This made the However, it had been a problem to provide the nec- search and selection of an executive director post essary follow-up after his visits and momentum was even more pressing than before, but with the new often lost between the visits. It was now envisaged turn of events, H.E. Governor Dr Abdullahi Adamu that Wolfson would take over these responsibili- did not have a lot of time to act on this either. It was ties when he came on board. Huet, who had been a bit of a "Catch 22" situation. In March and April coming periodically for intense capacity-building of 2006, the supporters of H.E. President Olusegun stints, discontinued his visits in 2006. In July 2006, Obasanjo (GCFR) made a failed bid for a change to Mbau set about obtaining a Nigerian work permit the Nigerian constitution to allow the President a for Wolfson. 2 In March, 2006 Berry Magarinos from GAIN went global role from Nigeria just as well as he did from to Nigeria and visited the Program Office and Tetra South Africa. Holm commented: Pak offices in Nasarawa State: For us that have been involved with the different Before the mission, I was not clear on the role of stages of developing the implementation of the the local government and what the local officers program in cooperation with the local program were doing. But I observed that the local team secretariat and other local teams, the achievements needed to be more proactive on solving some of the so far are extremely positive. As we are breaking issues around the logistics in the office. They were new ground here, there have been many challenges being trained in project management, but it was for all parties. The fact that Björn Wille now has more training than learning. There is a difference moved to Nigeria shows our commitment to give ­ training provides technical tools, but learning the best possible support to a continued successful leads to a behavioral change. You can achieve the roll out of the program and eventually the start of latter, but it is a matter of time and effort. Julian's local production to assure sustainability. intervention will make a big difference. Wille's move was scheduled for September 2006. In June 2006 Mbau handed in his resignation. Wille Bureaucracy intervened with Wolfson's work permit was not altogether surprised. Mbau was a young and instead of starting in June 2006, he would also and enthusiastic executive with plenty of potential. arrive in Lafia only at the end of September 2006. He had been in Nigeria since 2002. Four years later, But in the meantime, Wille was encouraged by local it was time for him to move on. Nevertheless, Mbau and African reactions to the food program: was also frustrated at the pace of change in Nige- ria. Being an African, the lack of urgency he often The schools are now actually coming to the ware- encountered about the altruistic goals of the school houses and fetching the product themselves. This feeding program bothered him. He said: is an indication that the program is well received. There is also interest from other African govern- Building and developing a nation and encourag- ments. To me these are signals that what we are ing investments from business and government are trying to do is sustainable economic development. not necessarily motivators for the program staff. The complacency endemic to the system as a whole Several so-called "home-grown" school feeding is a challenge. programs involving cooked meals using local raw materials had been introduced in 11 other Nigerian McGuinness was offered another professional op- states at around the same time that the Nutri-Sip portunity with Tetra Pak outside Nigeria. In April program had started to operate. Providing fresh 2006 it was decided that Wille should move from cooked meals to numerous children in under-re- South Africa to Nigeria. It was clear to Ulla Holm sourced schools in difficult rural environments and Wille that Wolfson would need back-up, and proved a much more substantial logistical and with Mbau and McGuinness leaving, Wille's focus public health challenge than the distribution of a could mainly be on accelerating the localization of drink like Nutri-Sip. By September 2006, all of these the product and also the expansion of the program programs had shut down, yet the Nutri-Sip pro- to other states in Nigeria. Wille could also cover his gram was still going strong. 3 Wille was encouraged by first signs of the product's of the initial 10,000) and reaching 200,000 by the impact on children's health: end of 2006. This was not quite 50% of the planned initial target of 450,000 children by that date. Prog- Teachers in the schools are already reporting that ress was being made slowly but surely, but neverthe- kids' health has improved; they are more bright- less in the planned direction. eyed and attentive, with fewer children tending to drop off to sleep in class. The enrolment rate has By August 2006, there was still no word on progress gone up by as much as 25% in some schools ­ and with the recruitment of the executive director. Wille more girls are also being sent to school. Test grades had provided H.E. Governor Dr Abdullahi Adamu are higher and children have an improved ability with some of the applications that they had received to concentrate. But we are waiting for the results of for the counterpart post from Nigerian nationals the impact study... and Mbau drafted the profile of the type of can- didate to be sought (refer to Exhibit 1 for the ideal GAIN subcontracted Helen Keller International's candidate profile developed jointly by Tetra Pak and (HKI) office in Nigeria in June 2006 to lead the data the state government). The Tetra Pak quarters in collection for the impact study in selected schools. the government compound were still awaiting an GAIN and HKI collaborated with Cornell Univer- upgrade; electricity, water and plumbing continued sity to design a research protocol to measure the to be a problem. However, Wille had confidence impact of the program on the nutritional status of that once Wolfson was on location, many of these the school children and to carry out a cost benefit practical issues could be cleared up. The localization analysis on the effect on the local economy. With process was also moving along slowly but surely support from the Nasarawa School Feeding Pro- and some serious investor interest had been identi- gram Committee (NSFPC), the plan was to use local fied. The government was following up. Significant people for data collection to ensure local owner- developments in this regard would be essential ship. The impact assessment study would be carried before the April 2007 elections but it all looked very out on two schools new to the program and the positive. Wille's own presence in Nigeria was bound protocol would be strictly followed in these cases. to make a difference in that respect. The initial aim had been to commence the study in March 2006 but for technical and practical reasons As for the School Feeding Program, during the it was decided to postpone the date until the end school break in July and August, not a lot could of October 2006, after the school summer vacation happen, but they would all have to put their shoul- and the Ramadan feast (during which at least some ders to the wheel once schools were back on track in of the children would be fasting). September, Wolfson was finally on board and Wille had transferred to Nigeria. By June 2006, the numbers of schoolchildren being fed on the program were at a level of 170,000 with a During his debriefing with Mbau, both men focused revised objective of adding 4,000 per week (instead the discussion on how the future of the program 1. The Micronutrient Initiative was launched as a result of the 1990 UN Summit for Children, with the mission of eliminating micro- nutrient malnutrition; sponsors included UNICEF, the World Bank, the International Development Research Centre, the Canadian International Development Agency, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). 2. The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, commonly known as BRAC, was founded in 1972 as a donor-funded relief agency. 4 could be further secured. Had they covered all the traces and could more be done in the immediate or long term to assure success? 5 Exhibit 1. Ideal candidate profile for the Executive Director of the Nasarawa State School Feeding Program The person should have the following attributes: 6. Good knowledge of computer software such as MS Excel, MS Word, project management tools 1. Good understanding of supply chain manage- and others. ment and the various cost drivers in the supply 7. Good command of English, both written and chain. oral. 2. Preferably, some knowledge in operational 8. Strong networking and relationship-building finance. skills. 3. Good administrative skills. 9. Self motivation with a high amount of energy 4. Management experience, including previous in order to get the task done. experience in managing people. ---------------------------- 5. Project management experience directly gained Source: Company Information from handling projects, including defining deadlines for the various tasks to be completed and actually having met the deadlines as de- fined. 6