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Transcript/Script NIGERIA NORTHEAST MALNUTRITION (TV/R)
HEADLINE: Severe Food Shortage in Nigeria's Northeast Leaves Children on the Brink
TEASER:
PUBLISHED: 05/08/2023 at 8:25 pm
BYLINE: Timothy Obiezu
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Maiduguri, Nigeria
VIDEOGRAPHER: Timothy Obiezu
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: DLJ, Bowman
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 2:59
VID APPROVED BY: mia
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO))
[[The U.N. says more than 4 million people in Nigeria's northeast are facing severe food shortages as global aid is stretched thin. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs took journalists to the region to see the worsening situation. Timothy Obiezu files this report from Maiduguri in Nigeria’s Borno State.]]
((Video/VOA: Shots of city, Timothy in the vehicle with UNOCHA, shots of treatment center - various))
((NARRATOR))
This bustling city center does not reflect the terror that lurks on the fringes -- Islamist militants at war with the government.
But even here young kids are reeling from the impact of devastating food shortages worsened by conflict.
Days ago, Bintu Hassan's 2-year-old son arrived at this hospital ward, wasted and hypoglycemic. She says she's already suffered too much loss.
((Bintu Hassan, Mother of Malnourished Baby)) ((Kanuri))
"I gave birth to four children but two died due to malnutrition. I have two left and this one is also sick. I was referred to this place."
((Video/VOA: More shots of treatment center, shots of flooding- various))
((NARRATOR))
More than 700,000 kids in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states suffer from severe acute malnutrition, according to the United Nations.
The U.N. says the situation could get worse between June and September - the so-called 'hunger gap' period when food stocks from the previous harvest traditionally run out.
Last year’s bumper harvest was disrupted by Nigeria's worst flooding in a decade. [[Radio track: U.N. Resident Coordinator Matthias Schmale explains.]]
((Matthias Schmale, U.N. Resident Coordinator))
"With 600,000 hectares of farmland destroyed, washed away, there will in the immediate future be serious food shortages.”
((Video/VOA: Shots of Rann - various, Kelu Modu- various))
((NARRATOR))
And there isn't enough food aid to go around.
((NAT SOUNDS - Rann residents))
This is Rann, a community near Nigeria's border with Cameroon. Residents say no aid has arrived here in eight months.
Kelu Modu says without much food, she couldn't breastfeed her baby and she became malnourished.
((Kelu Modu, Mother of Malnourished Child))((Hausa))
"When I gave birth to this baby, there was not enough breast milk to feed the baby with, and the baby started vomiting and also had diarrhea."
((Video/VOA: shots of IDPs, Shots of market, UNICEF))
((NARRATOR))
The food shortage is, in part, a result of Russia's war in Ukraine and the recent crisis in Sudan.
But officials say Nigeria's inflation and recent currency reform policy also constrained people’s ability to buy food.
UNICEF nutrition manager Karanveer Singh says despite crucial aid diverted to other global emergencies, Nigeria is still getting food supplies.
((Karanveer Singh, UNICEF ))((English))
"The global package because of different emergencies in the world, is shrinking but presently we are well placed// but of course we will need continued support."
((Video/VOA: More shots of IDP camps, shots of malnourished kids))
((NARRATOR))
Nigerian security forces have significantly degraded the fighting power of the militants.
But the country is still at war. And until that is over, millions will be fighting a different type of war -- hunger.
((Timothy Obiezu, for VOA News, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria))
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