Aid cuts threaten ‘Wonder Food’ for malnourished children in Nigeria, Kenya, others

…Stocks expected to run out by November

Millions of children in Nigeria and other African countries face a looming nutrition crisis as supplies of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a lifesaving paste often called a “wonder food,” risk running out within three months due to aid cuts, Save the Children has warned.

At least four countries: Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan, could run out of RUTF by November unless urgent funding gaps are filled.

The energy-dense, micronutrient-rich food has saved millions of young lives over the past 30 years, particularly among children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

A severely undernourished child is nine times more likely to die from common infections than a well-nourished child, experts say, adding that without RUTF, the odds of survival for many could fall dramatically.

Nigeria faces one of the gravest threats, with an estimated 3.5 million children under five battling severe acute malnutrition, particularly in the conflict-affected northeast and drought-prone northwest.

The country requires at least 629,000 cartons of RUTF to cover the June–November lean season, but so far only 64 percent of that has been secured.

Save the Children says it needs 3,000 cartons every month to sustain ongoing programmes, but budget cuts have tightened access to lifesaving supplies.

In Kenya’s arid north, repeated droughts and floods have left children increasingly vulnerable. About 105,000 cartons of RUTF are needed to treat severely malnourished children until the end of 2025. Yet only 77 percent of the requirement has been met, with stocks expected to run out by October.

Sister Winnie, who runs a health clinic in Turkana, said U.S. aid cuts have already disrupted services, adding that, “We have tried to source therapeutic food from other facilities so we can fully support our children who are very, very malnourished. And if they are not supported, I know very soon we will be losing them.”

Nearly half of Somalia’s children under five, about 1.8 million, are at risk of malnutrition, with one in eight requiring RUTF or hospitalization. Yet only 39 percent of required nutrition funding for 2025 has been secured, and aid agencies warn September could mark a critical turning point when programmes are forced to scale down.

The story of Dalmar, a 15-month-old boy admitted to a stabilisation centre after suffering from severe malnutrition, highlights the stakes. Due to recent funding cuts, the centre had to rely on substitute therapeutic milk, which staff feared slowed recovery. Dalmar eventually recovered, but doctors warned many more children may not be as fortunate.

In South Sudan, the number of malnourished children under five has surged from 2.1 million to 2.3 million this year, with 714,000 at risk of severe acute malnutrition. Yet only one-third of those in need received treatment between January and July, after 15 percent of nutrition facilities were forced to shut down.

Yvonne Arunga, Save the Children’s regional director for East and Southern Africa, warned of the devastating consequences of the global nutrition funding collapse, adding “Imagine being a parent with a severely malnourished child. Now imagine that the only thing that could help your child bounce back from the brink of death is therapeutic food, and that food is out of stock when it was once available. Hunger knows no borders and no limits. At a time when global hunger is skyrocketing, funding that could save children’s lives has been cut.”

Globally, the collapse in nutrition funding is expected to deny treatment to 15.6 million people across 18 countries in 2025, including 2.3 million severely malnourished children. The situation is projected to worsen further in 2026.

Save the Children, which has provided nutrition support for over a century, is urging the international community to urgently restore and expand funding, strengthen supply chains, and ensure that the most vulnerable children are not left without access to the “wonder food” that can mean the difference between life and death.