The UN’s top humanitarian in the country Matthias Schmale said famine affects 4.3 million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in Nigeria. The number of children under the age of five who are at risk of life-threatening acute malnutrition is doubling in one year to reach 700,000.
Describing the situation in the area, Mr. Schmale said: “I have been to Borno and two other states many times, I have seen mothers fighting for their lives. malnourished children in food processing plants.” The children he spoke to complained about being hungry for days.
He emphasized: “Those of us who are parents must imagine how it is when you do not see that your children eat well.
The driver of the crisis
The “catastrophic” situation is mainly the result of more than a decade of insecurity is linked to non-State armed groupswhich prevents people from farming and getting income from the land, said Mr. Schmale.
Another harmful factor is climate change and extreme weather effects. Last year there were the worst floods in ten years in Nigeria, which affected more than 4.4 million people across the country, not just the north-west.
Costs of consuming food, fuel and fertilizers has exacerbated the crisis, and the response has been largely unfunded. The UN official said that from the inside $1.3 billion in humanitarian funding required for the area, only 25 percent has secured so far.
