- Borno State Commissioner of Health and Human Services, Prof. Baba Gana, stressed the urgency of addressing malnutrition
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has expressed deep concern over the high rate of malnutrition in Northeast Nigeria, revealing that 3.7 million children in the region are either stunted, wasted, or anaemic.
FAO’s Communication Specialist, David Tsokar, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday following a high-level roundtable discussion held in Abuja.
The event, organised by the Borno State Government in collaboration with FAO, aimed to scale up the production and utilisation of the Tom Brown initiative—a locally sourced, nutrient-rich food supplement.
According to John Mukisa, Coordinator of the Northeast Nutrition Sector, investing in low-cost nutrition solutions such as Tom Brown could save Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe States an estimated $120 million annually.
The discussion comes amid a worsening food crisis in Nigeria, with recent Cadre Harmonisé figures showing that 25 million Nigerians are currently food insecure—a number projected to rise to 33.1 million across 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory by mid-2025.
Borno State Commissioner of Health and Human Services, Prof. Baba Gana, stressed the urgency of addressing malnutrition, describing Nigeria’s burden as one of the highest globally. “It is imperative that we adopt innovative, community-driven approaches to ensure food security,” he said.
FAO’s Representative ad interim, Koffy Dominique Kouacou, highlighted the economic benefits of scaling up Tom Brown, stating that beyond addressing malnutrition, it could create jobs, strengthen local markets, and boost regional development. “Beyond figures and policies, we must remember the human faces behind these statistics—the children whose lives we can save, the families we can uplift, and the communities we can transform,” he said.
Discussion about this post