WFP seeks $89 million as 17 million Nigerians face hunger crisis

The World Food Programme (WFP) has said it would require $89 million over the next six months to sustain food and nutrition assistance as well as critical logistics support across northern Nigeria.

This follows the disclosure that more than 17 million Nigerians across conflict-affected northern states are facing acute hunger as worsening insecurity, displacement and funding shortages deepen the country’s food crisis.

The United Nations agency disclosed this in a statement published on its website on Thursday, warning that the food security situation is deteriorating faster than previously projected.

WFP said the latest Cadre Harmonisé food security analysis shows that conflict is driving hunger in parts of northern Nigeria, particularly the northeast, to levels not seen in almost a decade, while humanitarian agencies are struggling to reach millions of vulnerable people.

What the WFP is saying

WFP said the latest assessment revealed a sharp deterioration in food security across nine conflict-affected states in northern Nigeria.

• “The recently completed Cadre Harmonisé analysis shows that more than 17 million people across nine conflict-affected states in northern Nigeria are experiencing crisis, emergency, or catastrophic levels of hunger. This is an increase of almost two million since the last projections.”
• “What concerns us most is how this crisis is expanding. For years, insurgent attacks and violence were largely concentrated in parts of northeast Nigeria. Today, they are spreading across a much wider area and forcing people from farmland, driving displacement and restricting humanitarian access, meaning hunger is quick to follow,” said Kinday Samba, WFP Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
• “When people lose access to food, the risks of displacement, exploitation and instability increase. Yet resources are at their lowest at the time they are needed most,” Samba added.

WFP warned that without urgent funding, the humanitarian situation could deteriorate further, increasing hunger, displacement and insecurity across northern Nigeria.

More Insights

The UN agency said Borno State remains the epicentre of the crisis as rising insurgent attacks and reduced humanitarian assistance continue to worsen food insecurity.

• More than three million people in Borno are acutely food insecure, including over 750,000 facing severe hunger and more than 10,000 experiencing catastrophic hunger.
• WFP said the number of inaccessible locations has doubled, with an additional 15 areas now classified as partially inaccessible because of insecurity, attacks on humanitarian routes and illegal checkpoints.
• Although 6.2 million people across the three northeastern states require food assistance, WFP currently has resources to support only about 740,000 people, down sharply from the 1.3 million beneficiaries reached during the peak of the 2025 lean season.
• The agency warned that the suspension of food assistance in some camps has contributed to rising exploitation, gender-based violence and reports of vulnerable people joining armed groups in search of food or income.

What you should know

Earlier, Nairametrics earlier reported that WFP said it spent $5 million, approximately N7.4 billion, on shock-response and social protection interventions in Nigeria in 2025.

In March, the World Food Programme warned that about 10.4 million people in West and Central Africa could be pushed into acute food insecurity if the ongoing Middle East conflict persists.

• The worsening food crisis comes as insecurity, inflation and displacement continue to strain household food access across northern Nigeria.
• Northern Nigeria has faced prolonged humanitarian challenges driven by insurgency, farmer-herder conflicts, banditry and climate-related shocks, all of which have disrupted farming activities and displaced millions of people.

Humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned that funding shortfalls are forcing them to scale back lifesaving interventions despite growing needs.