Of the 36 million Nigerians under five years of age, 15 million are stunted, 2.8 million are severely wasted and 30 million are anemic, according to figures provided by the United Nations Children’s Fund, or Unicef. Saving these children would cost about $120 each, mostly in the form of therapeutic food, according to the agency.
Much of Nigeria, which has a population of more than 200 million, was hit last year by devastating floods, which damaged crops at a time when the country was still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, the northern half of the country is wracked by violence from both jihadist groups and bandits. The insecurity and natural disasters hamper organizations such as Unicef from dispensing aid, cripple food production and interrupt immunization campaigns.
By the end of December, 17 million people were without adequate food and that number is expected to rise to 25.3 million between June and August, the so-called lean season, according to Unicef. That compares with just over 4 million in December 2019.