Insecurity and economic shocks have led to displacement, resulting in alarming levels of acute malnutrition in northeast Nigeria.
Children are bearing the brunt of unprecedented food insecurity during the worst lean season in years.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has raised alarm about the significant increase in cases of acute malnutrition among children at its treatment sites in Adamawa and Borno states.
Babatunde Ojei, the IRC’s Country Director in Nigeria, reported that rising prices and attacks by non-state armed groups have severely undermined food security, disrupted humanitarian efforts, and restricted access to essential commodities, resulting in higher acute malnutrition rates.
In the metropolitan areas where the IRC operates, malnutrition rates increased from 12 percent to 16 percent between 2022 and 2023.
“The prevalence is likely even higher in garrison towns and worse in communities with limited access to humanitarian services,” Ojei said.
In May, the IRC recorded a 70 percent increase in cases at the Mashamari nutrition treatment center compared to the previous year.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported the highest admissions rate for children with severe and moderate acute malnutrition in May, matching the caseloads seen during the peak of the 2023 lean season.
The IRC has expressed concern over the severe underfunding of the humanitarian response, which is currently funded at less than a third of what is needed for preventive and treatment services during this lean season.
Northeastern Nigeria remains the epicenter of an insurgency led by Boko Haram militants and its splinter group, Islamic State-West Africa Province (ISWAP).
