Avril Benoît's Trip to northwest Nigeria

We live in a world where already vulnerable people are increasingly impacted by the intersection of conflict, contagion, and climate change. This means an ever-expanding need for medical humanitarian aid and creating awareness of those crises that do not make headlines. These are the day-to-day commitments we at Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are able to make, thanks to your support.

As promised, I am writing today to share a firsthand account of my recent assignment in northwest Nigeria where malnutrition has reached catastrophic levels, but is extremely underreported.

It was in the city of Kano, that for the first time, I saw children diagnosed with rickets, a vitamin D deficiency that causes soft bones and bone pain, bowed legs, and stunted growth. Children who develop rickets at an early age may never walk because their bones are too weak. Many also suffer from malaria and sepsis, conditions often seen in the cycle of disease and malnutrition.

I also visited an inpatient therapeutic feeding center (ITFC) in Katsina, an especially hard-hit region of northwest Nigeria, where our team provided care to more than 100,000 malnourished children in 2024 alone.

One of the goals of my visit was to raise awareness about this crisis and encourage action through dialogue with United Nations agencies and other non-governmental organizations in the capital of Abuja. The situation is dire: An MSF survey found that the rate of global acute malnutrition has doubled in some areas of Katsina state since last year. With 2023 malnutrition rates also up from the year before, this shows a dangerous trend and immediate action is needed from other organizations and donors to avert famine in 2025.

This malnutrition and food insecurity crisis results from complex causes. In Nigeria, inflation is high, the devaluation of the local currency is ongoing, and agricultural production has dropped yet again this past year. Meanwhile, threats of kidnapping and extortion prevent people from traveling freely, farmers from selling their produce, and families from seeking medical care.

At the feeding center in Katsina, I met a family experiencing the worst of this crisis: 20-month-old Ibrahim and his grandmother Rabi. Ibrahim was suffering from wasting—a form of acute malnutrition. Ibrahim’s family had heard that MSF provided free, high-quality care to children, and they knew the baby needed it. But with roads blocked by armed criminals who threatened and robbed anyone who tried to pass, they had to wait while Ibrahim’s condition worsened.

It wasn’t the first time Ibrahim’s family had faced tragedy. They had already lost two children to malnutrition, and Ibrahim’s mother was terrified that her 20-month-old would be next. When the family finally made the journey to the hospital, she couldn’t bear to stay. So his grandmother Rabi, who had never been inside a hospital before, remained with her grandson.

Rabi was impressed by the tests, medication, and treatment that the baby received—not to mention the round-the-clock commitment of his care team. “I don’t think they’re sleeping,” she told me, noting how nurses would check on Ibrahim overnight. Rabi was overjoyed to see her grandson’s progress day by day. He was getting better.

Unfortunately, the challenges remain for countless families like these in Katsina and other parts of northwest Nigeria. Our nutritional work in the northeast and northwest continues to expand as we see more patients during this significant—and largely ignored—malnutrition crisis that is pushing families to their limits. With stable and flexible support, we can continue to meet the needs of children like Ibrahim across the region and around the world.    

With deepest gratitude,

Avril Benoît (she/her)
Chief Executive Officer, MSF USA