Some women in Borno State have resorted to digging antholes in search for food as hunger and food crisis bite harder among the people especially in rural areas.
Food shortage has driven some women to extreme measures in their struggle to feed their families in the insurgency-ravaged state.
Read Also: Gov Zulum commences distribution of food, agric inputs to 35,000 households in Borno
BBC Hausa reports that with stunted growth rates soaring among children and rampant cases of malnutrition, desperate mothers are turning to the forest, digging up antholes to extract grains reserved by insects.
Reports indicate that local governments such as Marte, Kukawa, Abadam, Guzamala, Kaga, Mobar, and Gubio are particularly affected where children in these areas rely heavily on charitable aid for sustenance.
Fatima Muhammed Habib, a member of a charity organization in the state, said many are unaware of the severity of the problem.
“When we visited one of these towns, we discovered that half of the children were suffering from nutritional deficiencies, as well as many breastfeeding women,” she told BBC Hausa.
“If a mother is not getting enough food, she cannot produce adequate breast milk. Women are so desperate that they are digging up antholes to find food.”
She also noted that women searching for antholes often face dangerous conditions, including exposure to snakes due to a lack of security in the forests.
Although aid is being provided some of them, Habib emphasized that it is insufficient to address the scale of the problem.
About 1,594 children are suffering from malnutrition in the state, Médecins Sans Frontières revealed in June.
The state government maintained that efforts to address and resolve this crisis are being made.
Wikki Times
