Photo File: Chief of UNICEF’s Bauchi Field Office, Nuzhat Rafique

The Bauchi State Government has released N300 million to the Child Nutrition Fund managed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as part of ongoing efforts to combat child malnutrition in the state. UNICEF will match this amount, bringing the total intervention fund to N600 million, officials said on Wednesday.

The Chief of UNICEF’s Bauchi Field Office, Nuzhat Rafique, disclosed the development during a media briefing. She said the fund release follows the familiarisation visit of UNICEF’s new Country Representative, Wafaa Saeed, to Governor Bala Mohammed.

“We are grateful to His Excellency, the Governor of Bauchi State, for releasing the promised N300 million to UNICEF. UNICEF will match the same amount, which will significantly help in tackling malnutrition in the state,” Rafique said.

Local government councils under ALGON have also contributed N100 million to the fund. The intervention will support the procurement of nutrition supplies and ready-to-use therapeutic food to save malnourished children. Governor Mohammed has promised to increase the state’s contribution to N1 billion next year, which UNICEF has pledged to match.

Rafique stressed the importance of long-term strategies to prevent malnutrition, including behaviour change, community engagement, and local solutions. “No child should suffer malnutrition. It affects physical growth, cognitive development, and overall well-being. Prevention is better than treatment,” she said.

UNICEF’s focus, she added, extends beyond treatment to promoting proper child feeding practices and maternal care from conception through the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. Saeed also commended community groups, traditional leaders, and local authorities for supporting nutrition programmes during her visit to Bauchi and Plateau states.

The malnutrition crisis in Northern Nigeria remains severe. A news outlet editorial in August 2025 reported that nearly 5.4 million children aged 0–59 months in the Northwest and Northeast suffer from acute malnutrition. The Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that 3.7 million children in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe are affected.

UNICEF’s April 2025 report highlighted that 8.8 million people, including 4.9 million children, need assistance due to food insecurity, poor healthcare, ongoing security issues, and disease outbreaks. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) screenings in Zamfara State found that 27% of 97,149 children suffered from acute malnutrition, with 5% severely affected, while 652 children died from malnutrition in Katsina State within the first six months of 2025.

Despite a 33.7% rise in Nigeria’s 2025 nutrition budget to N170 billion, challenges such as high food inflation, poverty, and weak health services continue to undermine progress. UNICEF noted that Nigeria has the world’s second-highest rate of stunted children, at 32%, with northern states bearing the greatest burden.

UNICEF called for increased government commitment, expanded therapeutic feeding programmes, improved local food production, better vaccine coverage, and security restoration to reverse the crisis, warning that malnutrition slows development and directly leads to suffering and death.