United Nations has said $396 million is needed to scale up humanitarian action in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states to prevent widespread hunger and malnutrition crisis.
The organisation, in a statement by Head of Public Information at United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Ann Weru, said over half a million people may face emergency levels food insecurity, with extreme high rates of acute malnutrition and mortality if there is no rapid and significant scale up of humanitarian assistance.
It noted an estimated two million children under five in the three states are likely to face wasting this year.
The statement added this is the most immediate and life-threatening form of malnutrition. It reads: “Some 700,000 children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition – meaning they are 11 times more likely to die compared to well-nourished children. They need immediate action to survive.
‘’The deepening food crisis and worrying malnutrition levels are the result of years of protracted conflict and insecurity which continue to prevent more than two million people from returning home. A combination of fuel and food inflation, a naira cash crisis earlier in the year, and climate shocks (such as 2022 floods in Nigeria) are among factors that have worsened the crisis.
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“I have seen firsthand the anguish of mothers fighting for their malnourished infants in our partner-run stabilisation centres. This is a situation no one should have to face,” said Matthias Schmale, humanitarian coordinator for Nigeria.
“I have spoken with children who described going for days without eating enough. Mothers who said their children go to bed crying from hunger. Families struggling to feed their families as they have gone for months without receiving food assistance.”
“This may become the unfortunate reality for millions of food-insecure people in the states unless resources and funding are mobilised.
“If additional funding is not received, humanitarian partners will only reach about 300,000 of 4.3 million at-risk people in need of food assistance during peak of the lean season. As more people in need of food aid go unassisted, there will be an increased risk of starvation and death.
“With the limited resources, nearly 3.4 million people will not be reached with agricultural livelihood support, including farming input, such as fertilisers. This funding gap is critical for agricultural livelihoods sustaining over 80 per cent of the vulnerable across the BAY states. A critical part of addressing the food crisis is to enable people grow their food”.
Also, World Food Programme (WFP) in the statement noted it is scaling up its operations to assist 2.1 million people with emergency food and nutrition supplies.
Country Representative of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Nigeria, Ms. Cristian Munduate, called for efforts to protect children.
“We have the power to make a difference in these children. With your support, we can prevent more children from suffering from malnutrition and give them a chance at a healthy and happy future,” she said.
The FAO representative in Nigeria, Fred Kafeero, warned that the upcoming lean season may worsen food insecurity among vulnerable households without access to agricultural livelihood options.