The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning about widespread hunger and child malnutrition in the north-east of Nigeria as the lean season is set to begin next month. Some 4.3 million people in the conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe are projected to face severe hunger between June and August.
According to the latest Cadre Harmonisé (CH) food and nutrition analysis, almost 600,000 people will face emergency levels of food shortage during this period.
An estimated 2 million children under five in the three states are facing wasting, the most immediate and life-threatening form of malnutrition. Of these children, approximately 700,000 are at risk of severe wasting. Compared to well-nourished children, they are 11 times more likely to die and needed immediate interventions.
At a press conference on Friday in Geneva, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke warned of the pervasive hunger and malnutrition in north-east Nigeria. According to him, the longer families remained without assistance, the higher the risk of starvation and death, and more people would be compelled to use unhealthy coping mechanisms including child labor, selling their assets, and survival sex.
Laerke added that the security situation in the region remained bad, following years of fighting, displacement, and human rights abuses. People often struggled to access their land, the main source of livelihood.
Recently, the international humanitarian organizations Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned it was receiving unprecedented numbers of malnourished children in therapeutic feeding centers in north-east Nigeria. MSF said a “catastrophe will follow if prevention and treatment activities are not scaled up immediately.”
From early January to 20 April 2023, 1,283 malnourished children were admitted for intensive hospital care at therapeutic feeding centers run by MSF in Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria’s Borno state, – about 120 percent more compared to the same period last year.
The number of malnourished child admissions since the start of 2023 is the highest ever recorded by MSF teams in Borno state for the period preceding the annual ‘hunger gap’, when food stocks from the previous harvest traditionally run out and malnutrition levels peak.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up operations to provide emergency food and nutrition assistance to 2.1 million people, while the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is providing therapeutic treatment to severely wasted children. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is also scaling up to reach 2 million people with seed packages to ensure production of cereals for the next harvest.
According to OCHA’s latest situation report, years of protracted conflict and violence continue to prevent many people in north-east Nigeria from growing the food they need or earning an income.
Nigeria has also experienced multiple disease outbreaks in 2023 that have strained the response capacity of the country’s healthcare systems. This includes Lassa fever, Diphtheria, Meningitis, and Cholera. With the rainy season approaching, the spread of cholera, malaria, and respiratory diseases could spike if preventive measures are not promptly taken.
In Nigeria, 8.3 million people are in need of humanitarian aid this year. 2.2 million people are internally displaced. While 1.3 billion US dollars are needed to provide humanitarian aid to millions of people in the country in 2023, only $156.8 million has been received to date (12% coverage). More funds are urgently needed.
Further information
Full text: Press Briefing by the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, May 5, 2023
https://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/bi-weekly-briefing/2023/05/press-briefing-united-nations-information-service-0
Full text: MSF warns of catastrophe as unprecedented number of malnourished children need lifesaving support, Médecins Sans Frontières, press release, April 26, 2023
https://www.msf.org/nigeria-msf-warns-catastrophe-unprecedented-number-malnourished-children-need-lifesaving-support