Nigeria has been ranked as the second-most severely affected country by malnutrition according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Anne Patterson, the Director of the USAID Mission, revealed this during a Trade Fair in Abuja focused on life-saving nutrition products.

Patterson referred to the 2021 Food Consumption and Micronutrients Survey, highlighting that severe malnutrition among Nigerian children escalated from 7% to 12% in the past five years.

“This means Nigeria is the second country with the most prevalent malnutrition. Only 2.8 per cent of those children were treated with ready-to-use therapeutic foods, also known as RUTF, in the past 12 months,” Patterson said.

She added: “These are alarming figures. Fortunately, local procurement of RUTF is available with producers like Ariel Foods, Emzor-Foods, DABS and Nutri-K.

“For example, just last week, USAID entered into a partnership with Emzor Food and Beverages to build a medical-grade groundnut paste processing facility,” she said.