Background

In May 2023, the United Nations and partners launched a lean season multi-sector plan for Borno,
Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states in north-east Nigeria asking for US$396.1 million to prevent the
food and nutrition crisis in the region from deteriorating into a catastrophic situation. The plan
presents a prioritization of the most urgent actions, including ramping up treatment capacity for
severe acute malnutrition (SAM). The plan also aims to respond to the most severe needs stemming
from the crisis as well affected people’s vulnerability to food insecurity. The $396.1 million request is
a highly prioritized part of the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), which seeks $1.3 billion to
assist 6 million people. The funding will enable humanitarian organizations to swiftly expand food
and nutrition assistance, along with supplementary interventions, such as agricultural support,
clean water and sanitation, healthcare, protection, and logistics in the BAY states as part of efforts to address food insecurity and malnutrition comprehensively. At the peak of the lean season,
additional resources are needed urgently to address outstanding gaps.

Situation Overview
The BAY states are experiencing a severe food and nutrition crisis for the fourth consecutive lean
season (June – September). The March 2023 Cadre Harmonisé (CH) assessment indicated that up
to 4.3 million people in the BAY states are food insecure (integrated food security phase
classification (IPC) 5-3). More than half a million of these people may face emergency levels of food
insecurity, with extremely high rates of acute malnutrition. An estimated 2 million children under
five in the BAY states are likely to face wasting (the most immediate, visible and life-threatening
form of malnutrition) this year. Some 700,000 children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition
(SAM) – meaning that they are 11 times more likely to die compared to well-nourished children.
As the lean season progresses, there are worrying signs of a worsening situation. Between May
and July, there was a 30 per cent increase in SAM admissions compared to the same period last
year.