The Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria at the United Nations, Mohammed Fall, has revealed that no fewer than 5.9 million Nigerian children face severe food and nutrition crisis, the highest globally.
The UN resident coordinator made this disclosure at the launch of 2024 the Lean Season Food Security and Nutrition Crisis multi-sector plan.
According to Fall, the plan aims to align with existing government investments and actions in food assistance, health, water, and sanitation. The focus is on North-Eastern states such as Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe.
He noted that 700,000 children under 5 years, are reported to be malnourished in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States
Fall added that 4.8 million Nigerians are at risk of food crisis in this year’s lean season ( June to September), which is further worsened by flooding, inflation, and the war in Ukraine which has made access to food more difficult.
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He said the sum of N306m targeting 2.8 million people, is needed to carry out this year’s project, to prevent a food and nutrition crisis in the region from deteriorating into a catastrophic situation.
The development comes after Nigeria declared a national emergency on food security on July 13, 2023, as record inflation made basic foods unaffordable for many.
In another report, the economy of the United Kingdom has officially overcome recession earlier than expected in the first quarter of 2023, Africa Today News, New York reports.
According to official figures, the economy grew by 0.6 per cent between January and March, the fastest rate for two years.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that mid-last year, the UK economy slipped into recession after shrinking for two three-month periods in a row.
As at the time, the UK’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, shrank by 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023 after contracting 0.1 per cent in the previous three months, meeting the technical definition of a recession.