ABUJA – AS Nigerians grapple with food availability and affordability, the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, raised the alarm over high food prices triggering increased levels of malnutrition in the country’s North East region amid terrorism challenges.
“Consecutive shocks to the economy – including a 300 percent increase in fuel prices due to the removal of the petrol subsidy and the devaluation of the Nigerian Naira by more than 75 per cent, have caused sudden and sustained spikes in the cost of transportation, staple food prices, agricultural production, and basic services, while the inflation rate reaching an 18-year high of 26.72 per cent in September.
“With the lifting of fuel subsidies, the average cost of food items in Borno State had increased by 36 per cent and transportation fares by 78 per cent. As a result, thousands of families, especially the internally displaced, can no longer afford to buy the same quality and quantity of food as before, contributing to poor diet and insufficient nutritious food intake. Income levels and labour opportunities have either reduced or remained the same in Borno State since the fuel subsidy removal.
“We were eating 2-3 time daily, but now we have difficulties in having breakfast. Not to talk of water for drinking” says Abubakar, “Our children have been sent back from school because we could not pay for their books.” According to ICRC, “Between 2020 and 2023, the number of new admissions has more than doubled. This annual trend, correlated with the increase in the prevalence of malnutrition, food insecurity and the number of cases of childhood illnesses, could indicate a gradual deterioration in the nutritional situation in the areas of intervention of these health structures, despite the efforts made to improve access to integrated care.
“According to the Integrated Food Security Classification in August 2023, acute malnutrition is particularly prevalent among people newly arriving from inaccessible areas in the northeast, with the overall Global Acute Malnutrition rates of 19.3 percent.
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