Over one million children in North Eastern Nigeria are expected to be acutely malnourished, including over 600,000 facing severe malnutrition, who may die if nothing is done. Over 123,000 pregnant or lactating women are also expected to suffer from acute malnutrition.

Conflict and insecurity, as key drivers of the situation, are expected to further deteriorate the situation, leading to decreased food accessibility, possible outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea, measles, and malaria.

The nutrition situation may also be negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on socio-economic factors.

Immediate/short term recommendations have been given by UNICEF. These include: Health workers should ensure adequate treatment for all children affected by acute malnutrition in all areas, and they should scale up treatment of acute malnutrition (SAM and MAM) for children in hard-to-reach areas and areas with low coverage, especially in Yobe and Adamawa states.

The organisation also advised healthcare givers to strengthen the screening and referral pathways, including scaling up the ‘mother MUAC’ (mid-upper arm circumference) approach to promote early detection of acute malnutrition. They also advocated for the improvement of the IYCF (infant and young child feeding) interventions focused on exclusive breastfeeding, continued breastfeeding and optimal complementary feeding practices using locally available nutritious foods.

Other recommendations given to health workers include the specific targeting of maternal and young child diets through promotion of household food fortification to improve the proportion of children having a Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD). Relief Web