Lagos, Borno, Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa, and Kano states have the highest number of people experiencing crises of food and nutrition insecurity in the country, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

UNICEF stated that according to the Cadre Harmonisé report, 26 States and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria, a total of 17.6 million Nigerians were in crisis due to the emergency situation of food and nutrition insecurity.
The report further revealed that between March to May this year, the top five food and nutrition insecure states were: Lagos, 1,596,099; Borno, 1,553,499; Katsina, 1,314,123; Kaduna, 1,222,929; Jigawa, 1,063,633; and Kano, 1,006,542.
UNICEF, therefore, urged Federal and State Governments to ramp-up interventions and domestic funding for nutrition across the country, particularly for children, as this will not only impact on their survival, but will impact on their overall socio-economic contributions to the society.
Speaking in Port Harcourt during a media dialogue on child malnutrition, with focus on nutrition financing, UNICEF’s Communication Specialist, Geoffrey Njoku called for increased budgetary allocation for nutrition, and the timely release of the funds.
He said, “We have a nutrition problem in Nigeria, and it is particularly bad for children. Although UNICEF and other partners are supporting Nigeria to combat malnutrition, the government is not putting in enough money into ending the country’s nutrition problems. The government needs to put in its own money into dealing with malnutrition.”
In her remarks, the Head, Child Rights Information Department of the Federal Ministry of Information, Najaatu Hassan, who was represented by Temitoye Falayi said, “Through the media, we have achieved some success in the nutrition space, however, we can do more.
” We want the Federal Government to commit more funds to nutrition for children and their future. We want to make sure that malnutrition is a thing of the past, so that we can focus on other areas of children’s survival.” Najaatu

In her presentation, quoting the Cadre Harmonise Report, Nkeiru Enwelum, Nutrition Officer, UNICEF, explained that, ” While there are 35 million children under the age of five in Nigeria, 12 million of them are stunted and 3 million are wasted. Also, Nigeria is currently ranked first in Africa and second globally in terms of the number of children that are malnourished.
“The Government must therefore commit more money for health, and ensure that there is more health for the money committed through accountability and transparency mechanisms. Also, mothers need to exclusively breastfeed their babies for at least six months, which will guarantee their physical and mental growth and development ” . she added
“Although Nigeria is off track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) by 2030, which is to achieve zero hunger, current trends show that Nigeria may likely achieve its target for exclusive breastfeeding and wasting “. Nkeiru
“The first 1,000 days of life includes the 9 months of pregnancy and the first two years of a child’s life. Exclusive breastfeeding is very important during this period. Also, after at least six months of exclusive breastfeeding, a diverse diet is important. Data shows that only one in five infants breastfeed early (23 per cent); only one in three infants breastfeed exclusively (34 per cent); only one in three children 6 to 23 months receive a diverse diet (31 per cent).
According to her, the first 1,000 days of life is very important to the overall development of any child, as 50 per cent of the brain capacity is formed at birth, and 75 per cent of the brain capacity is developed within the first two years of life. Hence, special attention needs to be given to the first 1,000 days of life as any deficiency in nutrients that affects brain formation cannot be reversed after this period. It also affects the productivity of the child when they become adults.” She said.