Deadly child malnutrition is soaring in northern Nigeria amid rampant inflation, simmering conflict and sharp cuts to foreign aid.
Children suffering from the most severe and fatal types of malnutrition more than doubled in the six months through June compared with the same period in 2024, according to Geneva-based Doctors Without Borders.
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Of the 70,000 treated by its teams in northern Katsina State, 652 children have died since January, it said in a statement on Friday.
“We are currently witnessing massive budget cuts, particularly from the US, UK and the European Union, which are having a real impact on the treatment of malnourished children,” said Ahmed Aldikhari, the group’s country representative in Nigeria. “The true scale of the crisis exceeds all predictions.”
US President Donald Trump has slashed aid to Africa while countries in Europe are diverting resources away from overseas assistance to support domestic priorities including defense, on which Trump has pressured them to spend more.
Blaming “critical funding shortfalls,” the United Nations food agency said this week it will suspend all emergency food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million people in northeastern Nigeria by end-July. The World Food Programme said it needs $130 million to sustain food and nutrition operations through the end of 2025.
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Nigerians are also being pinched by annual prices that rose 22% last month, with food inflation exacerbated by years of conflict and climate change in the country’s fertile north that has driven thousands of people away from their farms.
