Save the Children (SCI) has said that more children in southern Niger are suffering from malnutrition, warning that it could get worse in 2023 due to the impact of climate crisis.

Development Diaries reports that Niger is already among 15 countries hardest hit by an unprecedented global food and nutrition crisis.

The violence in Lake Chad has also worsened the situation as about three million people have been forcefully displaced from their homes with many unsure if they will ever return.

Currently, more than 30 million children aged under five in the 15 worst-affected countries suffer from acute malnutrition and eight million of these are severely wasted, the most visible and deadliest form of undernutrition.

Medical doctors in the Aguié district fear the number of malnutrition cases will be higher after another disappointing harvest, flash flooding, and a spike in the cost of fertilisers as a result of the war in Ukraine.

‘The escalating crisis in Niger and the Central Sahel region is dangerously below the radar with international attention elsewhere’, the Country Director for SCI in Niger, Ilaria Manunza, said.

‘But every day we are seeing more and more children suffering from hunger and a lack of nutritious food due to a collision of climate and economic shocks, ongoing conflict and deep poverty.

‘Medical teams are ringing the alarm bell but the warnings are going unheard and the needs this year are set to increase even further.

‘More and more people are crossing the borders into Niger with conflict in so many neighbouring countries and Niger is very welcoming, but the resources are very limited’.

More funding, it is understood, is needed to save lives and ensure children are given a healthy start to life.

Photo source: Save the Children