The European Union has allocated €500,000 to tackle malnutrition in the northern part of Nigeria.

The EU explained that the allocation, amounting to over N900 million, was to provide emergency assistance to children and mothers suffering from severe acute malnutrition in northeastern Nigeria.

In a statement on Friday, the EU noted that the funding will enable the Nigeria Red Cross Society to assist 170,000 households affected by or at risk of malnutrition in the northern states.

The beneficiary states include Adamawa, Benue, Borno, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara.

The aid, the statement added, will specifically support lifesaving activities for over 30,000 children in urgent need of treatment.

Also, community outreach and screening will be integrated with outpatient care for uncomplicated severe cases using ready-to-use therapeutic food.

The EU explained that the most complex cases will be referred to health centres for specialised care in accordance with national health protocols.

The body added that The Red Cross will expand its health and nutrition interventions and contribute to improving the medium-term resilience of the affected families and intensifying efforts in water, protection, sanitation, and hygiene.

This funding is part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

In the Northeast (Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States) and Northwest (Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara States) of Nigeria, an estimated 5.44 million children under five are acutely malnourished.

Two million are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition in Northeast Nigeria, which requires lifesaving treatment, especially during the peak of the lean season from June to September 2025.

As the economic hardship persists, the United Nations Children’s Fund has disclosed that no fewer than 5.4 million children under the age of five are suffering from acute malnutrition in the Northwest and Northeast regions of Nigeria.

UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, revealed this during a press briefing held at the Command Guest House in Gusau, Zamfara State in January.

“The numbers we face are staggering, nearly 5.4 million children under five in the northwest and northeast are suffering from acute malnutrition, with projections indicating an additional one million cases by April 2025,” she lamented.

The UNICEF representative said Zamfara is home to 1.2 million children.

“Of these, 250,000 children suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition which means that one in every 10 children staring at death. Wasting affects one in 10 children while stunting among children aged 0 to 5 years is at an alarming 45.2 per cent,” she revealed.

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