Malnutrition admissions at 10 well being facilities supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in north-eastern Nigeria rose 18 per cent in the primary 9 months of 2026.
The facilities recorded almost 20,000 admissions between January and September, up from about 17,000 in the identical interval of 2025, the ICRC mentioned in a statement on Thursday.
The figures cowl six well being centres and 4 hospitals. Young youngsters, pregnant girls and breastfeeding moms had been amongst these most affected.
Mubi in Adamawa State noticed the sharpest rise, from about 4,600 admissions in the primary 9 months of 2025 to roughly 5,700 this yr, a rise of almost 24 per cent.
The newest numbers observe earlier ICRC warnings about rising demand for dietary therapy in conflict-affected areas.
In October 2024, the organisation reported a 24 per cent improve in extreme acute malnutrition admissions between the third quarters of 2023 and 2024, from 6,824 to eight,470.
Admissions of kids below 5 with extreme acute malnutrition and medical problems additionally rose from 1,212 to 1,691 in the identical interval.
These figures cowl completely different reporting durations and affected person classes and can’t set up a steady three-year development.
They do, nonetheless, present repeated will increase in demand for dietary therapy.
Mothers wrestle
At the Mubi Stabilisation Centre, Zulaihatu Mohammed introduced her six-month-old daughter, Huseina, considered one of her twins, for dietary assist.
“When I gave birth to them, this one was tiny,” she instructed the ICRC. “I came today for the routine collection of children’s food. She is not feeling well. Since I gave birth to her, she has been unwell.”
Armed violence, local weather shocks and financial pressures have disrupted livelihoods and restricted entry to meals.
According to the ICRC’s video report, farmer Saminu Ijaduwa cultivates a small plot close to his residence as a result of explosive units have made extra distant fields harmful.
“Due to the conflict, going one kilometre out of town to farm could be highly risky. You might not return!” he mentioned in the ICRC report.
Restrictions on farming and disrupted markets have made it tougher for households to supply or purchase sufficient meals, notably affecting younger youngsters and pregnant and breastfeeding girls.
Humanitarian response
In a March 2026 report, the ICRC mentioned greater than 36,000 folks obtained therapy for extreme acute malnutrition at its supported facilities in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states throughout 2025.
The complete included greater than 16,000 youngsters below 5 and greater than 19,000 pregnant and breastfeeding girls.
The organisation additionally offered money help to greater than 17,000 susceptible households throughout the 2025 lean season.
Those annual therapy figures are usually not straight comparable with the brand new nine-month admission totals.
The ICRC mentioned it’s working with the Nigerian Red Cross Society to assist 15 major healthcare centres and 4 hospitals and to help greater than 200 communities with malnutrition therapy and food-security programmes.
Interventions embody supplying farmers with seeds tailored to drought and flooding, selling crop diversification and educating moms to arrange nutritious meals from native elements.
One such combination of sorghum, millet, soybeans, groundnuts and moringa, referred to as Tom Brown, has helped greater than 13,000 younger youngsters get well from reasonable acute malnutrition, based on the ICRC. Mothers are additionally taught the way to put together it at residence.
READ ALSO: Over 87,000 children treated for malnutrition in Katsina in eight months – MSF
Wider meals insecurity
The rise in admissions comes because the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) establish Nigeria among the many world’s starvation hotspots of highest concern in their June to November 2026 outlook.
Citing United Nations evaluation, the ICRC mentioned greater than 34 million folks in Nigeria had been anticipated to face inadequate entry to meals in 2026, the very best determine in six years.
In the North-east, extended battle continues to limit entry to farmland and undermine family livelihoods, based on the ICRC.
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