“We have no one else.” Families on the brink in Nigeria’s worst hunger crisis in five years
North-east Nigeria is facing its worst malnutrition crisis in five years. More than 1 million children under age 5 across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states are at risk of severe acute malnutrition – that’s twice as many children as last year and the highest number on record. For families who already endured years of conflict and displacement, hunger is a new and urgent threat.
“We’ve been here since 2016,” said Falmata Idris, 53, who lives in a makeshift shelter in the Sangaya camp for internally displaced people in Dikwa, Borno State, with her 12-year-old granddaughter, Aisha.
They have endured nearly a decade of displacement but soaring food prices and drastic funding cuts mean they are now struggling to meet even their most basic needs.
“It’s just me and Aisha now. We have no one else,” she said.
“Sometimes we go to bed without eating. I try to stay strong for her [Aisha], but I worry every day.”
With the ongoing lean season – the period between harvests when food stocks are low from June to August - their fears have grown:
“If things get worse, I don’t know how we’ll survive.”
A mother’s loss
In the same camp, Bintu Bakar, 32, a mother to twins, is also fighting for her family.
Bintu gave birth to Jibril and Fanne two and a half years ago. But tragedy struck last year when Jibril passed away due to breastfeeding complications – a consequence of food insecurity. That trauma still haunts her.
“I lost Jibril because I couldn’t feed them both,” she said, her voice trembling as she held Fanne, her only surviving child. “That was the most painful moment of my life.”
Today, Fanne is fighting for her life at a stabilization centre. She was admitted in May with life-threatening severe acute malnutrition.
“If I lose Fanne too,” Bintu said, “I don’t think I’ll survive it. She’s all I have left.”
Bintu and Falmata’s experiences are a painful reminder of food insecurity’s devastating toll and the urgent need for sustained humanitarian support to save lives and protect the most vulnerable people.
A growing crisis
Without adequate assistance, at least 280,000 severely malnourished children are at a high risk of death during this year’s lean season. They include 28,000 children at risk of acute watery diarrhoea and measles.
In response, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, recently allocated US$6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support urgent nutrition and health efforts, particularly for women and children in Nigeria.
But much more is needed.
Recent drastic cuts have already disrupted programmes across the region, with many organizations forced to scale back or shut down. In Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, funding cuts mean humanitarians can no longer prevent the situation deteriorating.
For families like Bintu’s and Falmata’s, that’s the difference between life and death.