Shola Akinyele
Nigeria is staring down one of the worst hunger crises in its history, with nearly 35 million people expected to face acute and severe food insecurity during the 2026 lean season, according to humanitarian agencies — the highest figure ever recorded in the country.
The crisis is being driven by escalating violence across northern Nigeria, particularly in the conflict-ravaged northeast, where persistent insurgent attacks have displaced millions, devastated farmlands, disrupted food supply chains, and wiped out livelihoods. Entire communities have been forced from their homes, deepening poverty and vulnerability at a time of soaring food prices, economic strain, and climate shocks.
Amid the worsening emergency, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a stark warning: without urgent new funding, more than one million vulnerable people in northeast Nigeria could lose access to life-saving food and nutrition assistance within weeks.
For the first time since beginning operations in Nigeria, WFP says it will be forced to dramatically scale back its humanitarian reach, cutting assistance from about 1.3 million people to just 72,000 — a nearly 95 per cent reduction — precisely when needs are at their highest.
“Violence is surging across the north, driving hunger to catastrophic levels,” WFP Nigeria said, stressing that the agency urgently needs $129 million over the next six months to sustain its emergency operations in the northeast.
Humanitarian partners working alongside the Nigerian government have also launched a broader $516 million funding appeal aimed at providing critical, life-saving support to 2.5 million people across the worst-affected regions in 2026.
The latest Cadre Harmonisé food security analysis paints a grim picture. Of the 35 million Nigerians at risk nationwide, 5.8 million are concentrated in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY) states, the epicentre of the conflict-induced hunger crisis. An estimated three million children are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition, placing them at extreme risk of illness, stunted development, and death.
Aid officials have described the unfolding situation as “catastrophic,” warning that further funding delays could push millions into famine-like conditions, with irreversible consequences for children, pregnant women, and displaced families. Many households are already resorting to extreme coping strategies, including skipping meals and selling essential assets, to survive.
As global humanitarian budgets tighten and donor fatigue grows, agencies say the international community faces a defining moment. WFP and its partners are urging swift and decisive action to avert a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe and prevent millions more from sliding into starvation.
The deepening crisis underscores Nigeria’s ongoing battle with conflict-driven hunger, economic pressures, and mass displacement — and highlights the urgent need for sustained international support, coordinated intervention, and long-term investment to protect the country’s most vulnerable populations and rebuild food security.
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