In Awe, a rural community in Nasarawa State, north-central Nigeria, Salamatu Madaki flips through a register in search of the names of malnourished children. It’s the middle of the year, and the numbers in her care as the local government’s nutrition coordinator tell a story she wishes she could rewrite before the year ends.
“We feed our children three times a day, but it’s just carbohydrates,” she told PREMIUM TIMES. “No vegetables, no beans, no meat. Mostly pap in the morning, yams in the afternoon, fufu at night.”
Even those plain meals are becoming unaffordable. Between December 2024 and May 2025, cases of severe acute malnutrition in Awe jumped from 64 to 86. Moderate cases also increased, from 28 to 32, according to Ms Madaki.
Across Nigeria’s northern communities, a crisis is unfolding silently. As food prices rise, families living on the margins are slipping further into poverty. For many, especially children, the result is devastating: acute malnutrition that stunts not just growth, but future potential.
According to UNICEF, Nigeria has the world’s second-highest number of stunted children, with 32 per cent of children under five affected. About two million Nigerian children suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), but only two in 10 receive treatment. Seven per cent of women of childbearing age also suffer from acute malnutrition.
SAM is a serious condition where children do not get enough nutrients and energy to grow and develop properly. It can lead to weakened immunity, making children more vulnerable to infections and even death if untreated.
SAM in Northern Nigeria
There are cases of malnutrition in most parts of Nigeria, but the situation is worse and dire in the northern part of the country.
Over 650 children have died from severe acute malnutrition in Katsina State this year, according to the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
PREMIUM TIMES reports that the organisation, which has been operating in Katsina since 2021, said it recorded an alarming rise in the number of malnourished children brought to its treatment centres in increasingly critical condition.
In Kano, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said 51.9 per cent of children are stunted due to malnutrition.
In Kebbi, the MSF said it recorded a 74.1 per cent increase in the admission of malnourished children into its facilities between January and June 2025.
A diet of survival
In Nasarawa’s Awe and Niger State’s Maikunkele community, mothers describe a bleak and repetitive diet built on starchy foods. A single egg now costs N250, five times its 2023 price. Cow milk, once a common supplement, has soared from N100 to N500 for a 750ml bottle.
Najahatu Salihu, a mother of two in Awe, became concerned when her nine-month-old daughter couldn’t crawl or sit on her own. Diagnosed with malnutrition, the baby remains on the same carbohydrate-heavy diet, lacking vital nutrients.
“I manage a public tap and get about N500 a day from my brother-in-law,” she told PREMIUM TIMES. “My husband works in the market. There’s no way we can afford meat or milk.”
Hadiza Abdullahi, 38, shares a similar ordeal. Her 14-month-old son stopped attempting to walk at 10 months and was diagnosed with malnutrition.
“We used to buy beans and eggs, but now we eat only rice or maize,” she said. “We cook once at night and reheat it in the morning. It’s the same thing every day.”
In Maikunkele, grain seller Mariam Abdulhadi watches her two-year-old daughter, Fatimo, struggle with persistent feeding problems. Slightly built and often clinging to her mother, the child was born underweight and was not exclusively breastfed.
“She only pinches rice when I eat,” said Ms Abdulhadi. “She vomits most solid foods and lives mostly on breast milk.”
Doctors had recommended a diet of nutrient-rich foods, such as kwash pap, milk, and vegetables. But after a little improvement, the family turned to an herbalist. Even when a health worker suggested adding eggs and fish, her husband dismissed the idea: “So she wants to enjoy when there is no money?” Mrs Abdulhadi remembers her husband saying. Her mother also dismissed the idea with a shake of the head.
“One egg is now N250/N300, and fish is also expensive,” she said. “She is not my only child; business has been bad these days.”
Cut off from help
Despite the growing crisis, many communities like Awe and Maikunkele remain excluded from Nigeria’s Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programme, cutting them off from interventions by UNICEF and other aid groups.
According to Ms Madaki, the last significant support the Awe LGA received was in 2023, through the ANRIN project. In May 2025, the state delivered a small batch of “kwash pap”, a nutrient-rich porridge made from soybeans, groundnuts, and millet, commonly known as Tom Brown.
But the support is sporadic and far from sufficient.
Mercy Madumbi, the local nutrition officer in Maikunkele, said the state nutrition office occasionally sends supplies, but they rarely meet local needs.
“Most women are unemployed,” she said. “Even when food is available, they can’t afford it, and they don’t know how to combine what they have for better nutrition.”
Yakubu Maaji, ward focal person for Maikunkele, warns that rising food prices are affecting children and pregnant women.
“Some babies are born malnourished because their mothers were not well-fed during pregnancy,” he said. “It’s transferred from mother to child.”
Three years ago, Mr Maaji said, 98 per cent of children in the community were well nourished. That figure has now dropped to 60 per cent, leaving 40 per cent malnourished.
As of 2024, Niger State recorded 3,570 reported cases of malnutrition among children under five, according to State Nutrition Officer, Asmau Muhammad.
She called for urgent government and donor funding, expansion of the Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) programme, and the upgrade of primary healthcare centres with solar power, clean water, and essential supplies like MUAC tapes and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).
She also stressed the need to engage traditional leaders, promote peer support groups, and use local-language radio to improve awareness of exclusive breastfeeding and proper child feeding.
Nutrition experts say the crisis begins before birth.
“If the mother has not stocked up enough nutrients, then the child will not get enough. Limbs, organs, and even brain development are affected by a lack of nutrients when the child is still a fetus,” Marylyne Malomba, a nutrition consultant for the International Medical Corps, said.
“So it’s important to understand that the health of the mother at the point of pregnancy is one of the most important places to start taking care of the child.”
Too poor to feed
In Maikunkele, Hasanna Isah tries to soothe her hungry two-year-old son in their dim, poorly ventilated room. He had just started crawling the previous week.
“He was born weak and underweight, not in a hospital,” she said.
Ms Isah tried to breastfeed exclusively but fell ill soon after delivery. Her skin began peeling, prompting a visit to a leprosy hospital. She switched to baby formula, but one tin costs N6,000 and lasts only three days. Now, she feeds him plain pap with no sugar and supplements it with Peak milk sachets when she can afford them.
“One sachet is N200 and I can stretch it for two feedings,” she said. “But it’s not every time I have the money.”
Separated from her husband, Ms Isah lives with her mother and three children. Her mother survives on small remittances from children who earn very little.
“We eat tuwo with dry okra or baobab soup,” she said. “Meat is out of reach. I sometimes buy N100 fried fish-gangaria, and shred it so it can go round.”
Even vegetables have become a luxury. “One bunch is N200, and it’s not enough for my children. Sometimes that’s all the money I have.”
In the dry season, a poor water supply makes home gardening nearly impossible.
“During that period, even getting water to drink or bathe is hard,” said Mr Maaji. “We only manage to plant during the rainy season.”
The inflation effect
Nigeria is facing its worst inflation crisis in decades. Headline inflation peaked at 34.8 per cent in December 2024 before the National Bureau of Statistics rebased its Consumer Price Index. The new basket lowered the figure to 24.48 per cent in January, but food inflation has remained high.
By June, the country’s annual inflation stood at 22.22 per cent, with food inflation reaching 21.97 per cent year-on-year.
Rising prices have forced many farms and businesses to shut down. Insecurity and erratic weather have also reduced food production.
In July 2023, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency regarding food insecurity. However, the situation has only worsened.
According to the SBM Jollof Index, the cost of cooking a pot of jollof rice rose 19 per cent between September 2024 and March 2025, from N21,300 to N25,486.
The report, Staple Under Stress, attributed the rise to soaring prices of ingredients like pepper, onions, rice, turkey, and beef. Protein remains the most expensive element: turkey now costs between N12,000 and N14,000 per kilo, up from N1,500–N1,700 in 2016. Beef has doubled to N7,000–N7,500 per kilo, goat meat is N6,500–N7,000, while Titus fish sells for around N7,000 per kilo.
Grains have also tripled. A cup of guinea corn now sells for N3,000, up from N1,500 in 2023. Soybeans have tripled. Vegetables like spinach or kuka leaves cost N200 a bunch, barely enough for one meal.
In Gosa Market, Abuja, vegetable seller Munachisom Favour put it plainly: “We eat without meat or fish. I can’t afford to give my children what they need.”
Policy gaps and uncertain funding
In the 2024 Global Hunger Index, Nigeria is ranked 110th out of 127 countries with enough data to calculate the scores. With a score of 28.8, Nigeria faces a serious level of hunger.
Nigeria ranked 107th out of 113 countries on the 2022 Global Food Security Index and 25th out of 28 in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Economist Intelligence Unit noted that Nigeria scored 0.0 on policy commitments for food security and access, compared to a global average of 47.1.
In response to the crisis, the Nigerian government proposed a 33.7 per cent increase in the 2025 nutrition budget, from N127.24 billion in 2024 to N170.01 billion, bringing the total allocation to N243 billion. That marks a 746 per cent rise from the N10.8 billion spent in 2021.
But despite these figures, hunger persists. More than 35 million children remain trapped in cycles of stunting, wasting, and underweight.
The Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) shows that child nutrition has worsened in the past five years. In 2018, 37 per cent of children under five were stunted. By 2023, it rose to 40 per cent. Underweight cases climbed from 22 to 27 per cent, while wasting increased from 7 to 8 per cent.
In Niger State, the stunting rate increased from 28.2 per cent in 2018 to 43.9 per cent in 2023/24. Nasarawa saw a rise from 31.2 to 35 per cent.
Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) said these figures show a worsening trend even in states with minor changes. Population growth has masked any real improvement.
The group continues to advocate for stronger policies, improved budget releases, and better access to RUTF. It has also pushed for a six-month paid maternity leave bill and the completion of Nigeria’s revised nutrition policy.
In February 2025, the federal government launched the N774 Initiative to give local governments more control over nutrition efforts. However, experts remain cautious about how much funding will be released and how effectively it will be spent.
READ ALSO: 51.9% of Kano children stunted due to malnutrition – UNICEF
“The future is stunted”
Without urgent and scaled-up intervention, there are concerns that Nigeria risks irreversible damage to its youngest generation.
“Malnutrition doesn’t just stunt the body,” said Ms Madumbi. “It stunts the mind, the immune system, the future.”
Every hour, nearly 100 Nigerian children under five die from malnutrition or related illnesses, according to UNICEF.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) recently raised alarm over the growing number of severely malnourished children in its clinics across Northern Nigeria. The crisis is expected to worsen during the lean season, as insecurity, aid cuts, climate shocks, and severe flooding deepen food scarcity.
“Children are especially vulnerable during this period,” said Babatunde Ojei, Country Director, IRC Nigeria. “It’s heartbreaking to see the needs growing while support shrinks. Violence and insecurity are cutting off communities, leaving children without the care they desperately need.”
Paul Alaje, senior economist at SPM Professionals, argues that inflation is a major factor driving malnutrition in Nigeria because the rising cost of food has placed basic nutrition out of reach for many households.
He noted that more than 40 per cent of the population lives on very low or fixed incomes, making it difficult for them to afford the foods necessary for healthy living.
According to him, no amount of medication or nutritional supplements can adequately address malnutrition without access to actual food.
He explained that unless inflation drops to single digits and people have more purchasing power, families will continue to struggle with food insecurity, and the nutrition crisis will persist.
“Inflation is one of the major contributors to household malnutrition. Food costs have become unreachable for low-income families, who comprise over 40 per cent of our population. Nutrition cannot rely on supplements alone. Without access to real food, families will continue to suffer,” he said.
More Pictures:
Read the full article here
