Northern Nigeria is facing an unprecedented child malnutrition crisis due to rural violence and soaring food inflation. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 31.8 million of the country’s citizens are food-insecure, the highest globally. The charity organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) revealed its facilities were overwhelmed with undernourished children such that some of them had to be treated on floors. The organization admitted 1,250 children in April to a therapeutic feeding center in Maiduguri, double last year’s figure. Even worse, the acute malnutrition is causing conditions like tuberculosis and acute diarrhea, with over 52,000 cases and 2,693 deaths in 2023. In other children, the malnutrition causes stunted growth. Causes of the malnutrition include the country’s 30% food inflation, abandoned farmlands due to violence, and widespread displacement. Despite the government’s efforts to improve the situation, aid organizations warn that millions face famine, unless there is immediate funding to save the children.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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