One Sachet, One Survival, A Future Reborn

In Mokolo, in Cameroon’s Far North region, a simple sachet of therapeutic food can mean the difference between life and death. The story of Naïma and her daughter Madina illustrates how UNICEF’s action, with support from the Government of Germany/BMZ through KfW, restores hope to families facing malnutrition.

The sun is already high when Naïma steps into the Outpatient Nutrition Centre for Severe Acute Malnutrition (CNAS) at the Mokolo District Hospital, in Cameroon’s Far North region. In her arms is Madina, barely eight months old, her body too light for her age, her gaze still fragile, but alive. Today, Naïma has come to collect Plumpy’nut, the ready‑to‑use therapeutic food that represents more than treatment for many families here: it represents a second chance at life.

Madina’s story mirrors that of thousands of children in a region severely affected by insecurity, population displacement, and chronic food shortages. At just two months old, Madina fell gravely ill. Though Naïma was breastfeeding, exhaustion, poverty, and deprivation had weakened her body, affecting her ability to breastfeed optimally. As days passed, Madina lost weight and weakened dangerously. “I watched my child fade before my eyes, without knowing what to do,” whispers Naïma.

Like many families, she hesitated to go to the hospital due to lack of financial means and information. It was ultimately a community health worker, trained and supported by UNICEF and its partners, who changed their fate. During a routine home visit, he immediately recognized the alarming signs: extreme thinness and dangerous weakness. The diagnosis was clear: severe acute malnutrition. Without delay, he referred the mother and child to the health centre for proper care.

A Silent Emergency in the Far North

In Mokolo, as in the rest of the Far North, malnutrition remains a largely invisible emergency. Security crises in the Lake Chad Basin, internal displacement, poor harvests, the arrival of refugees, and pressure on local resources have significantly reduced access to sufficient, diverse, nutritious food and basic social services. Under these conditions, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, adolescent girls, and young children pay the highest price. In this region, nearly 4 out of 10 children suffer from stunting, compromising their optimal growth and development.

Life‑Saving Interventions Made Possible by Partners

At the Mokolo health centre, Madina is immediately taken into care. She receives medical treatment and an appropriate nutritional protocol. Week after week, her condition improves. She gains weight, starts smiling again, and gradually regains her strength.

This care is made possible thanks to the nutrition programme implemented by UNICEF with the crucial support of the Government of Germany/BMZ through KfW, the German Development Bank. In April 2025, the Government of Germany/BMZ through KfW, granted UNICEF a €10 million subsidy to strengthen nutrition and health programmes in the Far North, North, Adamawa, and East regions.

This funding supports life‑saving interventions, including:

• community screening for malnutrition,
• free treatment for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition,
• micronutrient supplementation,
• promotion and protection of optimal breastfeeding,
• iron and folic acid supplementation for pregnant women and adolescent girls,
• strengthening of reproductive health services.

In the region, 40% of adolescent girls are heavily affected by anaemia, and early pregnancies further increase health risks for both mothers and newborns.

Nationally, this programme aims to improve the health and nutrition of more than 336,000 children under five, 316,000 adolescents (mainly girls), and 575,000 pregnant women in Cameroon’s most vulnerable areas.