Malnutrition rate in North East estimated at 12% – FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organisation says malnutrition rate in North Eastern Nigeria is estimated at 12 per cent as compared to 8 per cent national average.

FAO’s Representative in Nigeria, Louise Setshwaelo, made the disclosure in Abuja on Friday at a workshop titled: “The food and nutrition insecurity analysis in eight Northern states in Nigeria.”

According to Setshwaelo, emergencies continue to exacerbate the prevailing food security situation.

She listed such to include the recent flooding in Bauchi and Adamawa States, which damaged farmlands and infrastructure.

“A total number of 1,418,180 are moderate and severe food insecure from the evaluation, which is assessing the hunger situation corresponding to the highest levels of food insecurity in those states,” she said.

The FAO’s country’s representative said the security situation in the North East called for urgent humanitarian assistance to citizens in that area and the middle belt.

Setshwaelo recalled how Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States had been facing violent insurgent activities since 2010, stressing that hundreds of people were killed in 2015 alone.

She said: “Over 2.1 million people are internally displaced in Northern Nigeria, which covers seven states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe and Nassarawa as well as the FCT.

“The latest IDPs population in the three most affected states shows 117,729, 195,918 and 1,650,799 in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno respectively.”

According to Setshwaelo, to secure survival, most of the households are relying heavily on agricultural-related labour income in relatively peaceful areas, where cultivation is taking place.

She said: “The households are adopting very damaging coping strategies such as sales of productive assets, selling of livestock, consuming grain reserves and seedling and indebtedness.

“Households are, therefore, experiencing the worst food security situation in seven local government councils in Adamawa, which experts described as disastrous.”

The representative added that livestock herders in the North East remained largely displaced, forcing pastoralists to adopt negative coping strategies that compromise the viability of their livelihood systems.

Setshwaelo said: “The strategies are overuse of grazing lands due to disruption of livestock mobility routes, the sale of productive assets among others.

“Furthermore, shelter and infrastructure in rural areas like banks, schools, bridges, water supply, market and health facilities had been destroyed.

“Millions of people are expected to be in need of direct food assistance in the North East in the coming months, according to Famine Early Warning Systems Network.

“These North Eastern states are currently in food crisis situation and the situation is expected to persist in affected areas till December, due to poor harvest.”

Setshwaelo said the food security sector through 11 partners, including FAO, has collectively reached out to 712,467 people in Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Gombe and Bauchi States with food and livelihood support.

NAN.