Empty Plates: The Crisis of Malnutrition in Africa

Photo by Madalena Veloso on Unsplash

By Chiamaka Mbah

Zainab sat quietly under the neem tree near her family’s hut. Her arms were thin, her belly slightly swollen, and her eyes carried a tired glow no child should bear. At three years old, she weighed what an average one-year-old should. Her mother, Mariam, tried to feed her from the bowl of watery porridge they shared, but she knew it was not enough. It never was.

Across Africa, millions of children like Zainab wake up hungry and sleep even hungrier. Their plates are not just empty of food; they are empty of the nutrients that build strong bones, sharp minds, and healthy bodies. This is the silent crisis of malnutrition.

At least one in three children under five years old suffers from malnutrition in visible forms. Some are too short for their age, a condition called stunting. Others are dangerously thin for their height, known as wasting. There are those who look chubby but are malnourished within, carrying the hidden hunger of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Their bodies grow, but their minds remain trapped in a fog, unable to reach their full potential.

This silent crisis is rooted in history. Colonial farming systems prioritised cash crops over food crops, replacing diverse traditional diets with monoculture harvests. Today, climate change worsens it. Droughts in the Sahel leave families with little but grains to survive on. Floods in the southern part of Nigeria wash away farmland and livestock. In urban slums, processed foods replace fresh fruits and vegetables, filling bellies but starving bodies of what they truly need. Nutrients.

Iodine deficiency leaves children vulnerable to goitre and intellectual disabilities. Iron deficiency causes anemia, making it hard for girls, especially those going through puberty, to concentrate in school. Vitamin A deficiency weakens the immune system, increasing deaths from infections that should be easy to treat.

Yet solutions exist within Africa itself. In Ethiopia, community-based nutrition programmes train mothers to prepare balanced meals with local ingredients. In Kenya, school feeding schemes keep children in class and ensure that at least one nourishing meal is served a day. Across West Africa, women’s cooperatives grow diverse crops to enrich diets and incomes. These efforts show that with knowledge, resources, and commitment, change is possible.

The World Health Organization suggests simple yet powerful steps: diversify diets, promote breastfeeding, fortify common foods with essential nutrients, provide clean water, and ensure every child gets vitamins their bodies cannot produce on their own.

But beyond governments and organizations, each of us has a role to play. We can support local farmers growing indigenous crops like moringa, amaranth, and millet, and vegetables like waterleaf. We can teach the children around us about healthy eating, encourage them to cut down on sweets and junk, and eat their fruits and vegetables. We can also advocate for policies that prioritise nutrition for mothers and children. We can share stories like Zainab’s to remind leaders that these are not just numbers. They are names, faces, and dreams.

Because the fight against malnutrition is not only about food, it is about dignity, opportunity, and life itself. It is about preserving Africa’s heritage of diverse, nourishing cuisines and building food systems that prioritise people over profit.

At Shades of Us, we believe that every African child deserves more than survival. They deserve the chance to thrive. They deserve strong bodies to run with the wind, sharp minds to build tomorrow, and full hearts to dream without limits.

The crisis of malnutrition is silent, but we must not be. Beyond empty plates lies a deeper hunger, for justice, health, and hope. Let us rise to feed not just bodies, but futures.