More than 600 children have died of malnutrition in the last six months in northern Nigeria, which “faces an alarming malnutrition crisis,” alerted doctors without borders (MSF).
Between January and June 2025, MSF teams were in charge of almost 70,000 children with malnutrition in the state of Katsina, of which around 10,000 had to be hospitalized.
During this period, cases of malnutrition with edema, the most serious and deadly way in children, increased 208% in the same period last year, MSF wrote in a statement published Friday night. “Unfortunately, 652 children have already died in our structures since the beginning of 2025, due to lack of rapid access to attention,” MSF added.
An aggravated food situation
Important cuts in foreign aid, the outbreak of the cost of living and the resurgence of jihadist attacks, especially in the northeast, have aggravated the food situation in Nigeria.
Last year he marked a turning point in the nutritional crisis in the north of this country, said Ahmed Aldikhari, representative of MSF in Nigeria. “But the real scope of the crisis exceeds all forecasts,” he added, citing “massive budget cuts, particularly made by the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union,” which had an impact on the treatment and management of children with malnutrition.
“Serious malnutrition cases”
Pregnant and infant women have not been saved: a MSF survey of 750 mothers stressed that more than half of them suffered from acute malnutrition, including 13% of severe acute malnutrition.
The manager in charge of the problem of food in the state of Katsina, Abdulhadi Abdulkadir, acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, but specified that the mortality figures presented by MSF had not been validated by their government.
“Yes, absolutely, there are substantial deaths for malnutrition,” he told AFP, ensuring that the State would communicate its own data next week.
“We have serious cases of malnutrition, especially in Katsina,” he continued, while suggesting that MSF figures “are too high compared to reality.” The MSF evaluation is related to the entire north of Nigeria, which has more than a dozen states.
The regions in the northern state of Katsina, the Niger borders and located in the Sahel Semi-desert region, record the highest malnutrition rates, because food production is “very low” due to the rigorous climate, he explained to the manager.
Criminal gangs that loot the villages
As for the southern fertile regions, food production is hindered by criminal gangs that loot the villages and make agricultural practice dangerous, he added. “The problem of malnutrition has worsened,” he said.
These criminal gangs, which act throughout the country, are directed to rural areas with kidnappings against rescue and carry mortal attacks to obtain money.
In all Nigeria, almost 31 million people suffer from acute hunger (around 235 million inhabitants), a record figure, according to David Stevenson, manager of the World Food Program (PAM) in this country.
PAM warned earlier this week that it would be forced to suspend any emergency food and nutritional aid for 1.3 million people in the northeast of Nigeria at the end of July due to a critical budget deficit.
Source: BFM TV
