BY: NEWS EDITOR, OCTOBER 15, 03:22PM
Young children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are the most affected as malnutrition cases have risen by 18 percent in health facilities supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in North-East Nigeria.
According to the ICRC, admissions for malnutrition rose from around 17,000 between January and September 2025 to almost 20,000 over the same period this year across six health centres and four hospitals it supports.
The increase is sharpest in Mubi, Adamawa State, where admissions rose by nearly a quarter, from about 4,600 cases in the first nine months of 2025 to around 5,700 over the same period in 2026.
At the Mubi stabilisation centre, mothers wait in line with their young children for a check of their nutritional status.
Among them is Zulaihatu Mohammed, holding six-month-old Huseina, one of her twins.
'When I gave birth to them, this one was tiny, I came today for the routine collection of children's food. She is not feeling well. Since I gave birth to her, she has been unwell,' she said.
Her experience reflects the challenges facing families across north-eastern Nigeria, where armed conflict, climate shocks and economic pressures have disrupted livelihoods.
For farmers like Saminu Samiyu Ijaduwa, explosive devices have made fields further from home dangerous to cultivate, forcing him to farm only a small plot close to his house.
'Due to the conflict, going one kilometre out of town to farm could be highly risky. You might not return!,' he said.
When families cannot safely reach their fields and markets are disrupted, access to food becomes even more difficult, with serious consequences for young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
To combat malnutrition, the ICRC, with the Nigerian Red Cross, supports 15 primary health-care centres and four hospitals, helps more than 200 communities treat malnutrition and runs food security programmes.
This includes providing farmers with drought- and flood-resistant seeds, promoting crop diversity and supporting mothers to prepare nutritious food at home.
A blend of sorghum, millet, soybeans, groundnuts and moringa, known as 'Tom Brown,' has helped more than 13,000 young children recover from moderate acute malnutrition.
In Nigeria, Africa's third-largest economy, 15 years of conflict have had a measurable impact on hunger levels.
In 2026, more than 34 million people are expected to lack enough food to feed their families, the highest figure in six years, according to United Nations analysis.
The same report places Nigeria among the world's hunger hotspots of highest concern, alongside Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and Gaza.