By Sara Jerving
Friday June 3, 2022
A UNICEF-supported stabilization center in the Somali region where children with severe acute malnutrition receive treatment. Photo by: ©UNICEF Ethiopia / 2022 / Raphael Pouget / CC BY-NC-ND
The war in Ukraine is going to cost the United Nations
Children’s Fund at least $12 million in additional costs to purchase therapy
for malnourished kids in the Horn of Africa, Christiane Rudert, UNICEF regional
nutrition adviser for eastern and southern Africa, told Devex.
Currently, over 1.7 million children in Somalia, Kenya, and
Ethiopia are severely malnourished. Ready to use therapeutic food, or RUTF, an
energy-dense, nutrient-fortified food, costs about $100 for a course to treat
extremely malnourished children but the price is expected to increase by 16%
over the next six months.
Russia and Ukraine are among the world’s top agricultural
producers and exporters, but supply lines are blocked due to the war. Globally,
food, fuel, and fertilizer shortages, coupled with inflation, are rapidly
hiking prices.
Lives at stake: The price of RUTF has already increased
about $6 to $7 per carton, according to Rudert, because the costs of milk
powder, flour, and oil have increased. Without an increase in funding, aid
agencies are concerned hundreds of thousands of children won’t receive
treatment.
This additional $12 million is for commodity prices, but the
price of delivery from manufacturers to health facilities has also increased
due to hikes in fuel costs.
Market volatility:
The COVID-19 pandemic had already driven up costs in packaging, raw materials,
and transportation costs. Because of the market volatility, manufacturers
“require firm demand to inform current production,” Rudert said, adding that
UNICEF needs flexible funding to ensure there is a pipeline of supply. The
shortage in formula milk in high-income countries could have “a knock-on
effect” on RUTF because one of the main ingredients is dried skimmed milk.
Globally, the Food and Agriculture Organization has said a
prolonged disruption of food exports due to the war could lead to 8 million to
13 million undernourished people this year and next, many of which will be in
Africa.