5.9 million Nigerian children face severe food, nutrition crisis — UN

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Mohammed Fall, has said about 5.9 million Nigerian children face severe food and nutrition crisis, the highest globally.

The UN resident coordinator disclosed this at the launch of 2024 the Lean Season Food Security and Nutrition Crisis multi-sector plan.

According to Fall, the plan seeks to harmonise with existing government investments and actions in the areas of food assistance, health, water and sanitation, with the targets being North-Eastern states such as Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

He noted that 700,000 children under 5 years, are reported to be malnourished in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States

Fall added that 4.8 million Nigerians are at risk of food crisis in this year’s lean season ( June to September), which is further worsened by flooding, inflation, and the war in Ukraine which has made access to food more difficult.

He said the sum of N306m targeting 2.8 million people, is needed to carry out this year’s project, to prevent a food and nutrition crisis in the region from deteriorating into a catastrophic situation.

The development comes after Nigeria declared a national emergency on food security on July 13, 2023, as record inflation made basic foods unaffordable for many.