Years of ongoing conflict between the Nigerian military and Boko Haram has forced millions of people to flee their homes across Borno state, northeastern Nigeria. More than one million people have sought refuge in the state’s largest town, Maiduguri, placing a huge strain on stocks of food and basic essentials such as medical care. MSF has been working in Borno since mid-2014, running operations that include providing medical care for malnourished children, tackling disease outbreaks and distributing food.

Earlier this year, MSF’s emergency team used smartphones to survey malnutrition in vulnerable neighbourhoods of Maiduguri. Going house to house, the team referred malnourished children to MSF’s nutrition centres for medical care, and arranged follow up food distribution in neighbourhoods with a high number of cases. The data collected allowed MSF to monitor malnutrition on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

Thanks to a massive deployment of aid, the number of malnourished children in Maiduguri has now stabilized. Whilst this survey has finished, MSF’s medical humanitarian programmes in Maiduguri, and across Borno state continue.