Malnutrition admissions at health facilities supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross in north-east Nigeria have risen by nearly a fifth this year, the organisation said. Cases climbed from about 17,000 to roughly 20,000 between January and September, comparing 2025 with the same period in 2026, across six health centres and four hospitals.
The Mubi Stabilization Centre in Adamawa State recorded the sharpest increase, with admissions rising about 24 percent, from roughly 4,600 to 5,700 cases. Young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women have been hit hardest, the ICRC said, as sustained conflict and climate shocks squeeze food production across the region.
Zulaihatu Mohammed, a mother being treated at the Mubi centre, described how thin her child was at birth. “When I gave birth to them, this one was tiny,” she said. Clinic staff report the same pattern widely: newborns and infants arriving severely underweight after mothers struggled to access adequate food during pregnancy.
Conflict keeps farmers from their fields
Fifteen years of armed conflict in north-east Nigeria have forced many families onto small plots close to home, since travelling further to farm carries the risk of landmines and explosive devices. Farmer Saminu Samiyu Ijaduwa explained the calculation bluntly: “Due to the conflict, going one kilometre out of town to farm could be highly risky. You might not return!”
The ICRC and the Nigerian Red Cross together support 15 primary healthcare centres and four hospitals across more than 200 communities in the region. Their response includes distributing drought and flood-tolerant seeds, alongside a fortified food blend known locally as Tom Brown, made from sorghum, millet, soybean, groundnut and moringa, which has helped more than 13,000 children recover from moderate acute malnutrition.
Nigeria among the world’s worst hunger hotspots
The rise in Nigeria malnutrition cases fits a wider pattern. A joint Hunger Hotspots assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme, covering June to November 2026, projects that more than 34 million Nigerians will face food insecurity this year, the highest figure in six years. That places Nigeria alongside Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and Gaza among the places of greatest international concern.
Economic pressure compounds the conflict’s toll, as inflation erodes household purchasing power even where food is available. Humanitarian agencies have called for sustained funding to maintain nutrition programmes in the region, warning that gains made through supplementary feeding can reverse quickly if support lapses.
