Nigeria: Hope for Hadija’s baby
By Chima Onwe (with contributions from Doreen Kansiime)
When Hadija Bakar brought her 10-month-old son, Fanne, to a malnutrition treatment facility in Rann, north-east Nigeria, she was in distress. Fanne was extremely sick and was quickly diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition.
Fanne is just one of 4.8 million people facing record levels of hunger in Nigeria’s north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY). An estimated 230,000 children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition during the current lean season in the BAY states.
The malnutrition treatment facility in Rann offers an outpatient therapeutic programme managed by Mon Club - International, a local non-governmental organization, in collaboration with UNICEF. Funded by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and annual allocations from the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF), the programme provides a vital service for vulnerable mothers and babies during the precarious lean season.
“Since my husband got sick, we only survive on one small meal a day,” Hadija explained. “Last year we could afford at least two meals a day with the money he earned from menial jobs in Cameroon. Now, due to his ill health, we can only have one.”
As a result, Fanne, the youngest of Hadija’s seven children, hardly has enough to eat.
CERF allocation
North-east Nigeria has seen a rapid increase in severe acute malnutrition this year, with admissions to malnutrition treatment centres exceeding 2023 levels by more than 50 per cent – the highest level on record.
The country’s lean season falls between the planting and harvest seasons (May to September), and usually leads to reduced food supplies for vulnerable communities.
To address the crisis, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, allocated US$11 million from CERF. This will support emergency aid – including cash assistance – for the country’s most vulnerable households. The NHF will provide an additional $11 million.
Both allocations will help to prevent, prepare for and address crisis situations by assisting the most vulnerable households during the lean season and beyond, promoting food access and security.
Worsening crisis
Hadija’s family fled to Rann nine years ago after their village in Borno State was attacked by non-State operatives. Initially they received food aid and other assistance from humanitarian organizations, but this reduced after a while.
Hadija shared that she and her family had not received food assistance in four years. But the food crisis became so bad this year, they went four whole days without food.
“I often send my children to go around the IDP [internally displaced persons] camp to look for something to eat. No mother should ever see [this],” she said with sadness in her voice.
Many of the town’s residents have lost their sources of livelihood due to conflict and displacement.
In 2023, CERF’s lean season allocation reached 313,994 people, 140,072 more people than it aimed to reach. This year’s allocation aims to reach at least 740,000 people in Nigeria’s BAY states.
OCHA Nigeria