The United States Agency for International Development, on Wednesday, said that a new survey has rated Nigeria as the country with the second-highest malnutrition rate in the world.
The Director, USAID Mission, Anne Patterson disclosed this at the Trade Fair for Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods and Other Life-Saving Nutrition Commodities in Abuja.
Citing the most recent Food Consumption and Micronutrients Survey in 2021, Patterson explained that the prevalence of severe acute malnutrition in Nigerian children increased from seven per cent to 12 per cent over the last five years.
She noted, “This means Nigeria is the second most prevalent malnutrition country.
“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.
“These are alarming figures. Fortunately, local procurement of RUTF is available with producers like Ariel Foods, Emzor- Foods, DABS, and Nutri-K.”
Patterson stated…