According to Mr. Matthias Schmale, the top UN humanitarian officer in Nigeria, 4.3 million people in Nigeria’s Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states are suffering from extreme famine.
On Wednesday, Schmale told media in Geneva that there were now 700,000 children under five who were at risk of severe acute malnutrition, which may be fatal.
The situation in northeastern Nigeria was described by Schmale as follows: “I have visited Borno and the other two states numerous times.
“In nutrition stabilization clinics, I’ve witnessed moms fighting for the life of their malnourished children.
“Those of us who are parents must imagine what it’s like when you cannot ensure your children have enough food to eat,” he remarked.
He claims that the “catastrophic” situation is mostly the result of more than ten years of instability associated with armed non-State groups, which hinders people from cultivating their land and making a living from it.
Climate change and its effects on extreme weather are additional negative factors.
In Nigeria, not just in the north-east, last year’s floods were the worst in ten years and affected more than 4.4 million people.
The issue has been made worse by rising food, fuel, and fertiliser prices, and the solution is still woefully underfunded.
Only 25% of the $1.3 billion in needed humanitarian support for the area, according to the UN official, has been collected thus far.
