The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that Nigeria currently has the highest number of malnourished children in Africa and ranks second globally.

Nemat Hajeebhoy, Chief of Nutrition at UNICEF, shared this information on Monday during a media briefing on the 2025 lean season multisectoral response plan targeting Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states. The briefing was organized by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

According to Hajeebhoy, an estimated 600,000 children in Nigeria are suffering from acute malnutrition, with about half at risk of progressing to severe acute malnutrition—a condition that makes children nine to eleven times more likely to die.

Also speaking at the event, Serigne Loum, Head of Programme at the World Food Programme (WFP), stated that Nigeria has the highest number of food-insecure people on the African continent.

Their remarks came as OCHA launched an appeal for $300 million in humanitarian funding to respond to the growing food and nutrition crisis in Nigeria’s northeast.

Trond Jensen, Head of OCHA’s Office in Nigeria, said that of the total amount required, $160 million is urgently needed to address issues including food insecurity, nutrition, water and sanitation, health, protection, and logistics during the lean season.

“This is the absolute bare minimum that we need,” Jensen said. “It’s a paradox that while cases of severe acute malnutrition have doubled this year, our ability to respond has been halved due to the freeze in U.S. funding and cuts from other donors.”

As a result of the funding shortfall, OCHA has scaled back its humanitarian target to two million people—half the number supported last year. Jensen called on state governments and international partners to step in and help fill the funding gap.

This appeal comes just weeks after OCHA announced it would begin gradually reducing its presence in Nigeria due to financial constraints.