Benin child mortality: Unpacking the 45% malnutrition statistic claim
Misinterpreting statistical data can fundamentally alter its meaning and public understanding. On March 31, 2026, during an audio recording titled “Dix ans sans bilan, partie 4” (Ten Years Without an Assessment, Part 4), disseminated by the online media outlet Be Africa, exiled Beninese opposition figure Martin Rodriguez asserted that in Benin, “more than 45% of children under 5 years old die from malnutrition.”
To lend credibility to his assertion, Rodriguez claimed his statistics originated from the United Nations. He stated, “I read a United Nations report, two reports. One of them concerns child mortality. It’s on the internet, everyone listening, type it on your phone, go to Google,” before presenting his specific child mortality rate linked to malnutrition.
The context behind the claim
The publication by Be Africa, “Dix ans sans bilan, partie 4,” emerged amidst the electoral campaign leading up to the presidential election on April 12, 2026. In discussions broadcast across Be Africa’s platforms, Martin Rodriguez, a businessman and vocal Beninese opposition leader living in exile, delivered a sharp critique of Patrice Talon’s administration over the past decade in Benin. He initially declared, “We have experienced a growth in poverty; poverty has increased,” before introducing his child mortality statistic. These allegations were initially part of a longer debate published two days earlier on Be Africa’s YouTube channel before appearing on Facebook.
Despite the reference to the United Nations, the assertion that “more than 45% of children under 5 years old die from malnutrition” in Benin is inaccurate.
What internet research reveals
Following Martin Rodriguez’s recommendation, an initial online search was conducted using keywords such as “malnutrition, mortality, children, 5 years, Benin” on Google. A subsequent search specifically targeted his claim: “more than 45% of children under 5 years old die from malnutrition.”
These searches led to an advocacy brief published on the UNICEF-Benin website, titled “Malnutrition: A risk factor for mortality and morbidity in children.” This document, dated April 30, 2020, presents a different statistic from the one put forth by the Beninese opposition figure. It clearly states that “malnutrition constitutes the greatest risk factor for mortality and morbidity in young children in Benin” and that “it accounts for 45 percent of all annual child deaths among children under 5 years old.”
This UNICEF statistic was also cited in an article from the specialized website Allo Docteurs, published on November 18, 2024, and updated on June 25, 2025. This media outlet reported that “chronic malnutrition is responsible for 45% of deaths of children under 5 years old each year.”
UNICEF Benin refutes and clarifies Rodriguez’s statement
As part of the verification process, UNICEF’s Beninese representation was contacted. In an email dated Tuesday, March 31, 2026, UNICEF Benin rejected the data attributed to it. Addressing the claim, “More than 45% of children under 5 years old die from malnutrition” in Benin, Dorothée Thiénot, Head of Communication for UNICEF-Benin, firmly stated, “Phrased this way, this sentence is false and does not correspond to how the United Nations, including UNICEF, presents data.”
Beyond the fact that the statement does not align with the reality of UN statistics for Benin, Dorothée Thiénot highlighted a crucial nuance: “We are talking about the proportion of deaths of children under 5 years old where malnutrition is an underlying or aggravating factor, and not the proportion of all children who die from malnutrition.”
Dorothée Thiénot was also questioned regarding UNICEF Benin’s 2020 advocacy brief, which indicated that “malnutrition constitutes the greatest risk factor for mortality and morbidity in young children in Benin” and that “it accounts for 45 percent of all annual child deaths among children under 5 years old.”
On this point, Thiénot explained, “This formulation was based on estimates available at the time, largely aligned with international analyses that attribute approximately 45% of deaths of children under 5 worldwide to undernutrition.”
In any case, the Head of Communication for UNICEF Benin emphasized, “It is not about saying that ‘45% of children die’ due to malnutrition before the age of 5 in Benin. This is an erroneous interpretation,” Dorothée Thiénot stressed.
Regarding the current reality of child mortality in Benin, Thiénot informed that “available data is not presented as a ‘mortality rate specific to malnutrition’ for Benin, but rather as: an under-5 mortality rate (number of deaths per 1,000 live births).”
