“No food. No support. Just hunger” North-East Nigeria’s worst malnutrition crisis in 5 years
“I thought I was going to lose her,” said Hajja Jaru, referring to her two-year-old daughter, Zara Mustapha, at a malnutrition stabilization centre in Nigeria’s Borno State.
She added: “Here, we get food, but when we go back home, nothing is waiting for us. No food. No support. Just hunger.”
Zara was rushed to the stabilization centre at Dikwa General Hospital in early July after developing diarrhoea, a fever and a painful skin rash, and refusing to eat. She is now being treated for severe acute malnutrition. But her mother worries about what awaits them once they return home.
Zara’s story is not unique. Across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, children are increasingly suffering from malnutrition. Mothers and children are bearing the brunt of north-east Nigeria’s worst malnutrition crisis in five years, caused by the ongoing conflict, climate shocks and recent funding cuts.
Strained stabilization centres
Stabilization centres are overwhelmed. The facility in Dikwa, operated by the Italian humanitarian aid organization INTERSOS, has capacity for only 25 children, but it currently hosts more than 35.
“Before other partners withdrew due to the funding cuts, we admitted 15 to 25 patients per week,” said Umar Saje, the centre’s Officer-in-Charge. “Since their withdrawal we've seen a sharp increase, with admissions going up to 35 patients a week.”
The centre expanded its bed capacity to meet the demand in the lean season (June to September). But that’s not possible this year due to reductions in staff and in the supplies of life-saving therapeutic food for the children.
Saje added: “Our staff are overwhelmed due to the increasing number of patients; we now have to prioritize who can be admitted.”
Overwhelmed outpatient therapeutic programmes
In Dikwa’s Sangaya displacement camp reception centre, Falmata Abba sits with her 11-month-old daughter, Ummi, who was sick and losing weight due to moderate acute malnutrition. Falmata walked more than 3 km to seek treatment.
“We used to have help from a clinic nearby, but it's now closed.” she said, referring to the clinic near her home that was forced to close due to recent funding cuts.
At the INTERSOS-run outpatient therapeutic programme, Falmata has to wait until the registered patients receive ready-to-use therapeutic food for their children.
“Sometimes I sit here all day with Ummi and still leave with nothing,” she said.
Effects of recent funding cuts
Across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, at least 21 out of 53 critical malnutrition and health services have been scaled back or closed due to recent severe funding cuts.
In Dikwa, malnutrition rates continue to rise, with a mid-upper arm circumference screening in May identifying nearly 2,900 cases of severe acute malnutrition and more than 5,200 cases of moderate acute malnutrition among children under age 5 across displacement sites and host communities. Outpatient therapeutic programme admissions rose by 45 per cent in just one month – from 637 in April to 926 in May.
Urgent help needed
Falmata’s and Hajja’s stories highlight the growing needs of mothers across the region. But the programmes that could help them are now disrupted due to brutal funding cuts, with many organizations forced to scale back or shut down.
In response, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, allocated US$6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund last month to support urgent nutrition and health efforts, particularly for women and children in Nigeria.
But much more is needed. Without immediate and increased funding, life-saving food and nutrition programmes will be forced to scale back even further, leaving the most vulnerable people at even greater risk.
Humanitarians require $159 million to respond to these needs. Of that amount, $39.5 million is needed to prevent, manage and treat malnutrition for more than 630,000 children during the ongoing lean season (June to September).
The OCHA-managed Nigeria Humanitarian Fund is supporting this year’s lean season response, with allocations now under way. Last year, more than 2,200 children in Dikwa and Maiduguri received treatment.