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Malnutrition rising in northern provinces

    NAIROBI

    The north-central province of Karuzi has been especially hard-hit by malnutrition in recent months due to consecutive drought-induced poor harvests and a malaria epidemic, WFP stated in its latest emergency report on Friday. A nutrition survey conducted in November by the health NGO Medecins sans frontieres (MSF) found that 23 percent of the population in Karuzi was malnourished and 14 percent severely so, the report added.

    WFP expressed concern about a deteriorating malnutrition situation across the country, where it is providing food for 55,000 malnourished people registered in nutritional feeding centres. In Karuzi, 15,000 people are now receiving food support through the collaboration of WFP, UNICEF and MSF (Belgium).

    WFP has also increased food provision in the northern province of Kayanza, which has seen a sharp rise in the number of malnourished people, the report stated. There was now an urgent need for over 500 mt of vegetable oil, an essential commodity for the porridge meal distributed in nutritional centres, it added.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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