Last month, the author, broadcaster and restaurant critic Jimi Famurewa visited northwest Nigeria with Action Against Hunger to highlight the worsening hunger levels in region, while learning more about the charity’s work on child malnutrition and health.
Jimi, who is the Evening Standard’s chief restaurant critic, a regular guest judge on the series MasterChef and a podcast host, visited a stabilisation centre for children with severe acute malnutrition, an outpatient therapeutic programme (OTP) and a food distribution centre supported by community health volunteers who are crucial in helping the charity reach underserved and vulnerable families. In each project, mostly young children are treated for malnutrition of differing levels of severity.
A recent nutrition survey has shown that over 15 per cent of children under five in Sokoto are suffering from wasting – the most immediate, visible and life-threatening form of malnutrition – which leaves children too thin and with weakened immune systems.
Furthermore, acute malnutrition has become worryingly common among young women between the age of 15 and 49, with acute malnutrition rates ranging from 19 per cent to 31 per cent.
Hunger in Sokoto has increased due to a combination of factors: rising national food price inflation and a deteriorating cost of living crisis; increasing armed attacks, banditry and insecurity; the effects of climate change including rising temperatures and decreasing rainfall; and reduced levels of humanitarian funding.
Due to the growing humanitarian crisis across West Africa, Action Against Hunger has launched an urgent appeal to governments and stakeholders to come together to improve humanitarian access to the most remote areas. In six countries (Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Sierra Leone and Nigeria) more than 10 per cent of the population are expected to be experiencing at least crisis levels of hunger in June 2024.
Jimi Famurewa said:
“As a restaurant critic, I’ve had the privilege of experiencing the very best of the UK’s food scene, yet my trip to Sokoto was a stark, necessary reminder of the other end of the spectrum where food scarcity is a daily reality. Witnessing children with severe malnutrition and families struggling to find their next meal was a profoundly humbling, eye-opening and utterly unforgettable experience.”
“In Sokoto, I saw first-hand the vital work Action Against Hunger is doing to break the cycle of hunger and malnutrition. Young children and mothers in northwest Nigeria are caught in the crosshairs of an economic crisis and major security challenges, which have led to higher prices and reduced supplies of food. Charities like Action Against Hunger are doing the utmost to provide life-saving support.”
A video recorded during the recent trip will be shown to attendees at Action Against Hunger’s upcoming fundraiser event, Too Many Critics. In the video, Jimi will reflect on his experience in Sokoto and ask guests to support the charity’s pledge to raise over £100,000 to tackle hunger in Nigeria along with more than 50 countries worldwide. At the event, an opportunity to join Jimi on a restaurant review will be available as an auction prize.