Bringing Malnourished Children Back to Health in Burkina Faso

Rising levels of insecurity in Burkina Faso have pushed nearly 2 million people out of their homes. Child malnutrition rates are on the rise as well.
Aminata Zabré, Head of Nutrition at the UNICEF-supported Sector 6 health center in the district of Kaya, north central Burkina Faso, treated approximately 100 children per year for acute malnutrition ten years ago. In the first quarter of 2022 alone, that number jumped to more than 600.
Leading a tour of the crowded center, Zabré says, "We found many, many malnourished children, malnourished breastfeeding mothers and malnourished pregnant women. Today, we have many new cases that we will treat."
Zabré and her team use Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to bring acutely malnourished children back to health. RUTF, a nutritious, shelf-stable peanut paste, comes in single-serving sachets that cost about 35 cents each. UNICEF is by far the largest supplier of RUTF for acutely malnourished children in Burkina Faso.
RUTF is "full, full, full of calories, and it provides energy, and it helps the children recover from severe malnutrition," says Zabré.
UNICEF and partners are aiming to reach hundreds of thousands of acutely malnourished children with RUTF treatment in Burkina Faso this year. Supply of RUTF has been uninterrupted in previous years, but with the growing number of children and rising prices of therapeutic food, UNICEF needs additional resources to make sure no malnourished child is left behind.