Unprecedented numbers of malnourished children in need of lifesaving treatment have been brought to therapeutic feeding centres run by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria's Borno state, in northeast Nigeria. MSF warns of an impending catastrophe if immediate action is not taken.
The number of malnourished child admissions since the start of 2023 is the highest ever recorded by MSF teams in Borno state for the period preceding the annual 'hunger gap', when food stocks from the previous harvest traditionally run out and malnutrition levels peak.
Our teams at the MSF Nilefa Kiji therapeutic feeding centre in Maiduguri have seen a surge in admissions for both moderate and severe acute malnutrition. In January, around 75 children were admitted every week for severe malnutrition - approximately three times the average for the same period in the past five years. By early April, the weekly figure had risen to close to 150 children per week, twice that of the same time last year.
"Last June, we sounded the alarm when admissions skyrocketed at the start of the hunger gap, but this year we are already seeing alarming numbers while we are still weeks away from the pre-harvest shortage period. The clock is ticking. There needs to be action if we want to avoid a catastrophe," says Kyi.
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