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Claim: Kenneth Okonkwo, a public affairs analyst, said Nigeria has overtaken Sudan as the country with the highest number of malnourished children in Africa.
Verdict: True! Credible news reports showed UNICEF confirmed Nigeria now has more malnourished children in Africa and the second in the world.
Full Text
The harsh economic realities in Nigeria continue to be discussed among citizens, including members of the elite, who are now speaking out against government policies that exacerbate hardship.
According to a report by Statista, as of 2023, nearly 12 per cent of the world’s population in extreme poverty lived in Nigeria.
Reflecting on this recently, Kenneth Okonkwo, a Nollywood actor and public affairs analyst, said Nigeria has overtaken Sudan as the country with the highest number of malnourished children in Africa.
He expressed disbelief that Nigeria could have more malnourished children than Sudan, a country ravaged by war.
Sudan has remained in the news due to its prolonged crisis. In April 2023, violent clashes erupted between the national army and a powerful paramilitary group, which marked the peak of a long-standing, silent power struggle. The conflict has since escalated into what the United Nations described as “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history.”
As a result, lots of Sudanese citizens have been plunged into poverty, hunger and displacement while many have died. As expected of a war-torn country, hunger has become commonplace, leaving millions of children malnourished.
Although Nigeria continues to grapple with insurgency, insecurity, and banditry, particularly in the north-eastern region and parts of other states, the country is not in a state of war.
Considering the realities of both countries, Okonkwo’s comment triggered conversations on social media, with many Nigerians sharing different views on the matter as seen here, here, and here.
Due to the topicality of the issue and its relevance to Nigeria’s socio-economic context, DUBAWA scrutinised the claim to ascertain its veracity.
Verification
Simply put, malnutrition is an imbalance between the nutrients the body needs and the nutrients it gets. According to the WHO, malnutrition covers two broad conditions: undernutrition and overweight, obesity, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases.
Most people associate malnutrition with undernutrition, a deficiency of nutrients, but another form of malnutrition is overnutrition, which covers the health effects caused by excessive consumption of nutrients.
Some people also suffer from macronutrient and micronutrient deficiency. These people lack carbohydrates, proteins, fats (macro), vitamins, and minerals (micro), in the quantities the body needs to remain healthy.
To verify Okonkwo’s claim that Nigeria now has the highest malnutrition rate in Africa, DUBAWA conducted a keyword search on Google.
The result revealed that several media reports confirmed the claim that Nigeria has the highest number of malnourished children in Africa and the second highest in the world.
Recent reports quoted Nemat Hajeebhoy, chief, nutrition, of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Serigne Loum, head of programme at the World Food Programme (WFP), alluding to the blatant food insecurity in Nigeria.
In May, UNICEF noted that Nigeria has the highest burden of malnourished children in Africa, with an estimated two million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
It also said that Nigeria has the second highest burden of stunted children in the world, with a national prevalence rate of 32 per cent of children under the age of five.
A report by the Centre for Journalism, Innovation, and Development (CJID) identified some underlying causes of malnutrition, including current food inflation, amid the many challenges bedevilling the country’s economy.
Further findings showed that Nigeria’s malnutrition rate has been on the rise.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification projection for May 2024/April 2025 noted that nearly 5.4 million children aged 0-59 months in northwest and northeast Nigeria are suffering from acute malnutrition. These children will likely continue suffering through 2025 with about 1.8 million cases of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and 3.6 million cases of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM).
UNICEF has also recently provided insights into the level of malnutrition in Sudan. In May, the international agency said some 3.2 million children under the age of five are likely to experience acute malnutrition in 2025, out of which more than 770,000 are expected to suffer severe acute malnutrition.
Conclusion
Nigeria truly has the highest number of malnourished children in Africa, a spot previously occupied by Sudan.
