… Says 2.8m under 5, pregnant women urgent need of nutrition services 

By Chioma Obinna

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has raised the alarm over the worsening malnutrition crisis in northeast Nigeria, warning that millions of children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition.

The UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office, Maiduguri, Dr. Tushar Rane, who spoke at a media dialogue, on “Child Malnutrition Media Dialogue and Capacity Building for Journalists” to commemorate the World Humanitarian Day in Maiduguri, Borno State revealed that approximately 2.8 million children under five and pregnant women in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states are in urgent need of nutrition services.

According to the 2023 lean season Nutrition and Food Security Surveillance (NFSS), the prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM) among children under five in Borno is 10.2 percent, 8.0 percent in Yobe, and 4.0 percent in Adamawa.

Rane said UNICEF, in partnership with government agencies and NGOs, has been working tirelessly to address the crisis.

He said they have provided treatment to over 460,000 children with acute malnutrition in 2023 and implemented innovative programs like the family screening approach and the Child Nutrition Fund.

He said: “Besides supporting CNMs and the provision of nutrition supplies to 765 OTPs and 50 SCs across northeast Nigeria, UNICEF has been supporting the government to pilot a few holistic programmes to address child malnutrition.

 “Across the BAY states, UNICEF and the Borno State Primary Health Care Board are adopting a proactive screening approach to identify children with SAM.

“Across northeast Nigeria, the family approach to malnutrition screening has led to the empowerment of more than 100,000 caregivers to screen and identify children with acute malnutrition.

“Mothers play a crucial role and contribute to promoting the health of their children to ensure proper growth and development.

“The aim of the family screening approach is to shorten the identification, referral and treatment gap and also train caregivers to provide household screening for their children, using the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) tape.”

He emphasized that despite these efforts, there was need for increased investment in nutrition programmes and stronger government commitment.

Announcing that the family programme was already yielding results, he said, in Banki, a community in Borno State, more than 1 in 4 children (30%) children receiving acute malnutrition treatment are identified through the family screening approach.

The UNICEF boss called for greater integration of health, water, sanitation, food security, education, and child protection services to deliver holistic solutions.

“Prevention comes first,” Rane stated.

“We must focus on preventing malnutrition through early identification,treatment, and community-based interventions.”

He further urged the government to allocate more funding for nutrition programmes, ensure regular monitoring of the nutrition situation, and strengthen community involvement in addressing the crisis.

Further, he disclosed that UNICEF has initiated the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) with the Government across the northeast and has also signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with them.

He explained that the CNF is an alternative financing mechanism to address child malnutrition.

 Rane said the MoU will tackle the problem of malnutrition among children less than 5 years old as well as pregnant and lactating women through the provision of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).

“The main beneficiaries will be children 0 – 59 months as well as pregnant and lactating/breastfeeding women.

“The Borno State Government has committed the sum of $100,000 counterpart funding to match UNICEF’s contribution in the same sum to the purse.   As the Adamawa Government has also signed the CNF MoU, UNICEF is excited about the impact of domestic financing to address child wasting and improve the wellbeing of children affected by conflict,” he added.