UNICEF: 25 million Nigerians are severely food insecure

About 17.7 million Nigerians are hungry, and that number could rise to as high as 25 million, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

This was recently discussed during a two-day media dialogue on nutrition financing in Nigeria that was organised by the Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation in collaboration with UNICEF. Nkeiruka Enwelum is the Nutrition Officer for UNICEF.

While she decried widespread malnutrition in Nigeria, she said that the most food-insecure people live in the states of Lagos, Borno, Katsina, and Kano.

She noted that while the country was on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target for universal access to safe, legal, and supported breastfeeding by 2030, it was not on track to meet SDG2’s target of ending all forms of hunger by 2030.

According to Enwelum’s research, Nigeria has the highest rate of malnourished children in Africa and the second highest rate in the world, with an estimated 35 million children suffering from the condition.

About 35 million children in Nigeria under the age of five are underweight. “And 12 million of them are stunted,” she added.

She said that the lack of money and education were to blame for the country’s high rate of malnutrition.

Earlier in his own remarks, UNICEF communication specialist Geoffrey Njoku bemoaned the lack of funding from federal and state governments to combat rising rates of malnutrition.

He continued by saying that the high rate of malnutrition in Nigeria indicates a pressing need to fill funding gaps through local resource mobilisation and greater media coverage of the issue.

About 17.7 million Nigerians are hungry, and that number could rise to as high as 25 million, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

This was recently discussed during a two-day media dialogue on nutrition financing in Nigeria that was organised by the Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation in collaboration with UNICEF. Nkeiruka Enwelum is the Nutrition Officer for UNICEF.

While she decried widespread malnutrition in Nigeria, she said that the most food-insecure people live in the states of Lagos, Borno, Katsina, and Kano.

She noted that while the country was on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target for universal access to safe, legal, and supported breastfeeding by 2030, it was not on track to meet SDG2’s target of ending all forms of hunger by 2030.

According to Enwelum’s research, Nigeria has the highest rate of malnourished children in Africa and the second highest rate in the world, with an estimated 35 million children suffering from the condition.

About 35 million children in Nigeria under the age of five are underweight. “And 12 million of them are stunted,” she added.

She said that the lack of money and education were to blame for the country’s high rate of malnutrition.

Earlier in his own remarks, UNICEF communication specialist Geoffrey Njoku bemoaned the lack of funding from federal and state governments to combat rising rates of malnutrition.

He continued by saying that the high rate of malnutrition in Nigeria indicates a pressing need to fill funding gaps through local resource mobilisation and greater media coverage of the issue.