Briefing Report

This briefing report is informed by a review of the literature and expert insights gathered through a series of online monthly meetings held between April 2024 and July 2025 with stakeholders in the United Kingdom and The Gambia. The objective of these consultations was to co-create a Sustainable Nutrition Strategy for The Gambia based on the country's nutritional challenges, in order to promote food security, and support the development of a resilient, health-promoting food system.

The collaborative project brought together a diverse group of contributors spanning academia, government, international agencies and research institutions (Fig 1). Academic partners included Oxford Brookes University (OBU) and the University of The Gambia (UTG), while government agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health, The Gambia, played central roles. The World Food Programme (WFP) contributed as a key international agency, alongside research and development bodies, including The Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Key project stakeholders included Professor Herbert Robinson, Vice Chancellor of UTG; Mr Mbakeh Camara, Innovation and Partnerships Director at UTG; Dr Lamin K M Fatty, Dean of the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at UTG, Professor Sidat Yaffa, Professor of Agronomy at UTG; Dr Abubacarr Jagne, Deputy Chief Medical Director and Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Ministry of Health; Mrs Fatou Jammeh Touray, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Projects and Programmes and Foods and Nutrition Specialist at the Ministry of Agriculture; Mr Tamsir Cham, World Food Programme, The Gambia; and Mr Momodou Jallow, Junior Research Coordinator at Medical Research Council The Gambia at LSHTM.

Figure 1: OBU-UTG Knowledge Exchange Project Team