UN says a quarter of the world’s children under 5 suffer from severe food poverty, most in Africa

Aisha Aliyu, 36-year-old mother of five, is photographed with her children in Kaltungo Poshereng Nigeria

The 9-month-old twins cried nonstop and tugged at their mother, seeking food. They had received little in the past 24 hours, showing signs of deeper hunger with heads too big for their tiny bodies. Dorcas Simon, 38, struggles to breastfeed them and has three other children. “Not much milk comes out,” she said. “What will I give them when I don’t have food myself?”

In northern Nigeria, where conflict and climate change exacerbate food shortages, her twins are among 181 million children under 5 globally living in severe food poverty, according to a new U.N. report. This report, focusing on nearly 100 low- and middle-income countries, defines severe food poverty as consuming nothing or, at best, two out of eight recognized food groups in a day.

Africa’s population of more than 1.3 billion people is highly affected, accounting for one-third of the global burden and 13 of the 20 most affected countries. Despite this, progress has been made. In West and Central Africa, the percentage of children in severe food poverty fell from 42% to 32% over the last decade due to diversified crops and performance-based health worker incentives.

Without vital nutrients, children with “extremely poor” diets face life-threatening malnutrition, known as wasting. “When wasting becomes very severe, they are 12 times more likely to die,” said Harriet Torlesse, one of the report’s authors.

In communities like Kaltungo, UNICEF trains thousands of women to boost their families’ nutrient intake using crops like cassava, sweet potato, maize, millet, and home-grown vegetables, and rearing livestock. More than a dozen women in Kaltungo’s Poshereng village recently learned new recipes using these foods, which can be grown in sand-filled sacks requiring little water.

Nigeria faces its worst cost-of-living crisis, making home-grown food essential. Aisha Aliyu, 36, said her youngest child “used to be skinny but is growing fatter” due to their home-grown food. Hauwa Bwami, 50, nearly lost her grandchild to severe protein malnutrition before UNICEF training a year ago. Now, she grows enough food to sell to others.

Kaltungo, in a semi-arid agricultural region, has seen limited rainfall due to climate change, leading to past deaths from acute malnutrition. The training “is like answered prayers for me,” Simon said, but it can be a harsh lesson. Florence Victor, 59, helplessly watched her nine-month-old grandchild die from malnutrition in 2022.

Malnutrition weakens immune systems, making children vulnerable to fatal diseases. In the Sahel, a hot spot for extremism, acute malnutrition has reached emergency levels due to displacement and climate change, forcing families to eat leaves and locusts to survive, said Alfred Ejem of Mercy Corps. In conflict-hit Sudan, severe malnutrition claims many children’s lives.

In Nigeria’s troubled northwest, Doctors Without Borders reported at least 850 children died last year within 24 to 48 hours of hospital admission.

Inequality also drives severe food poverty in Africa. In South Africa, the most unequal country, about one in four children faces severe food poverty despite being the continent’s most developed nation. Governments and partners must act urgently, said Torlesse: “The work starts now.” CHINEDU ASADU, KALTUNGO, MDT/AP