The Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership has attributed the persistent child malnutrition crisis in Northern Nigeria to weak governance, inadequate funding and poor institutional accountability, warning that millions of children remain trapped in chronic hunger despite years of government policies and nutrition interventions.
In a policy report released on Wednesday in Abuja, titled Why Malnutrition Persists in Northern Nigeria: Strengthening Nutrition Governance, Financing and Primary Healthcare, the Centre argued that Nigeria’s nutrition crisis is no longer a result of policy deficiencies but of failures in governance and implementation that continue to undermine child health outcomes.
The report painted a troubling picture of the country’s nutrition indicators, revealing that 40 per cent of Nigerian children under the age of five are stunted, eight per cent are wasted, while 27 per cent are underweight, with the burden significantly higher across the northern region.
According to the report, the North-West recorded some of the country’s worst stunting rates, affecting 46.3 per cent of children in Katsina, 43.8 per cent in Sokoto and 42.6 per cent in Zamfara. In the North-East, child food poverty remains widespread, impacting 67 per cent of children in Borno, 66 per cent in Yobe and 60 per cent in Adamawa.
The report also referenced data from the World Food Programme (WFP), which estimates that more than 17 million people across nine conflict-affected northern states are experiencing crisis, emergency or catastrophic levels of hunger.
Authored by Dr. Suleiman Bello and Joshua Abah, the report acknowledged that Nigeria has developed several nutrition policies and identified evidence-based interventions over the years. However, it noted that government institutions have consistently failed to translate these commitments into effective services at community, ward, health facility and state levels.
The Centre identified weak institutional leadership, poor coordination and the absence of accountability mechanisms linking nutrition financing with primary healthcare, agriculture, social protection and local implementation structures as major barriers to reducing child malnutrition.
It also criticised what it described as the government’s largely reactive approach to nutrition management, arguing that interventions are often initiated only after children become severely malnourished instead of focusing on preventive care during pregnancy and the critical first 1,000 days of a child’s life.
To address the crisis, the Athena Centre proposed four key reforms aimed at strengthening governance and accountability in the nutrition sector.
Among its recommendations, the Centre urged the Federal Government to make verified nutrition preparedness a prerequisite for accessing performance-based financing under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund in high-burden areas.
It also called for the publication of a quarterly nutrition compliance ledger detailing budget releases, procurement of nutrition commodities, health facilities supplied, wards reached and outstanding government obligations to improve transparency and public accountability.
The report further recommended that northern states establish dedicated nutrition accountability institutions with the authority to coordinate activities across the health, agriculture, water and sanitation, social protection, finance and humanitarian sectors.
In addition, it advocated strengthening Ward Development Committees to enable early identification of vulnerable mothers and children before malnutrition reaches life-threatening levels.
According to the Centre, nutrition should be treated as a measurable government responsibility rather than a humanitarian response activated only after crises emerge.
It concluded with a stark warning: “A child should not have to become visibly wasted before the state becomes visible.”
Northern Nigeria continues to record some of the highest rates of child malnutrition in Africa, driven by armed conflict, displacement, widespread poverty, climate-related shocks, food insecurity and weak healthcare systems.
Despite successive national nutrition strategies and increasing support from development partners, implementation gaps, inadequate financing, poor inter-agency coordination and weak monitoring mechanisms have continued to hamper progress, leaving millions of children vulnerable to preventable diseases, impaired cognitive development and avoidable deaths.
The Athena Centre said addressing the crisis will require governments at all levels to prioritise nutrition governance, strengthen accountability for public expenditure and invest more effectively in primary healthcare as Nigeria pursues its Sustainable Development Goals on ending hunger, improving health and reducing child mortality.
