The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a stark warning that nearly 2.7 billion people globally still cannot afford the minimum diet required for good health, despite some recent improvements in access to nutritious food.
In a video posted on X on Tuesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus noted that more than 200 million additional people were able to afford a healthy diet in 2024 compared with 2021. However, he stressed that the progress remains far from sufficient to address the scale of the problem.
Africa bears the heaviest burden
Mr Ghebreyesus highlighted that the burden is unevenly shared, with Africa disproportionately affected. Approximately two-thirds of the continent's population cannot afford a healthy diet, making it the region most impacted by the high cost of nutritious food.
He warned that the situation is even more dire in some of the world's most vulnerable settings, where conflict, displacement, and climate change are driving unprecedented levels of acute malnutrition, particularly among children.
Policy actions recommended
While the WHO is supporting countries to respond to the immediate nutrition crisis, Mr Ghebreyesus emphasised that governments must also address the underlying factors that make healthy diets inaccessible. “We must also act upstream. We know what works,” he said.
He outlined several measures that governments can adopt to improve access to healthy diets. These include promoting breastfeeding, taxing unhealthy foods and drinks while subsidising healthier options, protecting children from the marketing of unhealthy industrially produced foods and beverages, introducing clear front-of-pack nutrition labelling to help consumers make healthier choices, reformulating food products to reduce salt, sugar, and trans fats, and strengthening primary healthcare systems to prevent, detect, and manage all forms of malnutrition.
“Healthy diets should not be a luxury. They are the foundation of health, and they should be within everyone’s reach,” Mr Ghebreyesus said.
Nigeria’s context
The WHO warning reflects Nigeria’s growing struggle with the affordability of nutritious foods. Rising food prices, where common protein sources often cost thousands of naira per unit, continue to limit access to balanced diets for many households.
A balanced diet typically includes carbohydrates, proteins, healthy fats, fruits, and vegetables, providing the nutrients needed for healthy growth, development, and disease prevention. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), although food inflation has slowed in recent months, many nutrient-rich foods, including vegetables, fruits, eggs, fish, and other protein sources, remain beyond the reach of low-income families.
The challenge has contributed to Nigeria’s persistent malnutrition burden. Findings from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2023–24 show that about 40 per cent of children under five are stunted, while eight per cent are wasted, highlighting the continued impact of poor nutrition on child health.
The affordability crisis is further compounded by insecurity in several parts of Nigeria, where conflict continues to disrupt food production, livelihoods, and access to healthcare. Premium Times has reported extensively on how armed conflict and displacement, particularly in the North-east, have worsened hunger and malnutrition by forcing families from their homes, limiting access to farmland, and disrupting humanitarian assistance in affected communities.
