Campaign Status

Ongoing Offline: The campaign is currently ongoing offline and, thus still in the process of collecting funds. 

Summary

The campaign aims to screen 1,000 children for malnutrition, and provide treatment for both severe and moderate acute malnutrition to prevent fatalities, while also offering psychosocial support to caregivers and multi-purpose cash assistance for caregivers of severely malnourished children with medical complications.

Challenge

According to Nutrition and Food Security Surveillance data used for the current analysis, the prevalence of acute malnutrition is at IPC Phase 3 (Serious) in Central Yobe (13.8%), Southern Yobe (11.1%), Northern Yobe (10.8%), and Eastern Borno (10.1%) domains, and at IPC Phase 2 (Alert) in Central Borno (9.8%). Some challenging factors contributing to acute malnutrition include banditry, population displacement, and insecurity, which limit access to vulnerable populations. It is estimated that nearly 4.4 million children aged 0-59 months are currently suffering and are likely to continue suffering from acute malnutrition.

The conflict in the northeastern part of Nigeria has resulted in various protection concerns and family vulnerabilities. Frequent displacement has led to low farming activities due to fear of attacks, abduction, and mine risks. Poor access to livelihood activities due to increased poverty continues to exacerbate hunger among households, leading to poor feeding habits and dietary intake, which in turn increases malnutrition among children aged 6 to 59 months.

The May-September 2023 IPC report shows that 10 LGAs in Borno state are in phase 3 (serious) conditions. These conditions are attributed to various contributing factors such as poor food consumption patterns and inadequate hygiene practices among the analyzed populations. The assessment projects the situation to persist until this month, although it is expected that cases of malnutrition will decrease during the harvest season.

The assessment recommends a multisectoral response and preparedness ahead of the next lean season. Hence, the justification for these funds is to continue to resource for resources and respond timely to current cases to avoid case overload during the next lean season.

Solution

With this in mind, we are fundraising for a project to respond immediately to cases of malnutrition and prevent the child mortality rate caused by increased hunger, which has led to malnutrition affecting over a million children in Northeast Nigeria. Through this intervention, we will provide both preventive and curative services for acute malnutrition, targeting hard-to-reach areas in the implementation locations (Nigeria, specifically Borno Damboa LGA).

Through this crowdfunding campaign, we aim to respond to the following needs:

• Identifying, through a holistic approach using the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) guidelines, children screened for malnutrition.
• Establishing four Outpatient Therapeutic Program (OTP) centers to provide treatment for severe acute malnutrition and moderate acute malnutrition.

• Offering one-on-one counseling and psychosocial support.
• Providing referrals for children with medical complications.
• Implementing multipurpose cash transfers to reduce household vulnerabilities.