Tuesday, April 24, 2012

In Chad, UNICEF and partners step up emergency response to food crisis

N’DJAMENA, Chad, 11 April 2012 – Khadija’s 6-month-old son, Nawal, had been suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea for days, but she thought it was related to his teething. Finally, when his fever did not go down, she brought him to a clinic in N’Djamena, where he was diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition.

Even in a normal year, Chad has one of the highest rates of chronic malnutrition in the world.  The region experiences a yearly ‘lean’ or ‘hunger’ season, and according to UNICEF data from 2010, 15.7 per cent of children under age 5 were already suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

But in 2011, the rains did not come.

The failed rains, coupled with low crop yields, are causing a dramatic increase in rates of malnutrition – not only in Chad, but throughout the Sahel region.

Read the full article here.

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