WFP Warns Millions in Nigeria Face Extreme Hunger

The United Nations World Food Program has warned that northern Nigeria is approaching an unprecedented hunger emergency, with nearly 35 million people projected to experience severe food insecurity in 2026 as the agency’s funding is expected to run out at the end of December.

The assessment is based on the latest Cadre Harmonize analysis for the Sahel and West Africa region, which indicates that hunger levels are rising faster than at any time since monitoring began. Intensifying militant activity, economic distress, and shrinking humanitarian budgets are accelerating the deterioration.

WFP Nigeria country director David Stevenson said rural farming communities are bearing the greatest burden.

“The advance of insurgency presents a serious threat to stability in the north, with consequences reaching beyond Nigeria,” he said. “Communities are under severe pressure from repeated attacks and economic stress.”

Nearly one million Nigerians currently depend on WFP assistance. Funding shortfalls forced the organization to cut nutrition programs in July, affecting more than 300,000 children. The agency reports that almost six million people across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe lack minimum food supplies, with about 15,000 in Borno expected to face famine-like conditions.

Child malnutrition is surging in Borno, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara and has reached “critical” levels in several locations.

WFP operations have been severely restricted by sharp reductions in foreign aid, including significant cuts from its largest donor, the United States during the Trump administration. Several European countries have also reduced their humanitarian spending, further limiting the agency’s ability to respond.

Without new funding, WFP warns that millions will be left without essential assistance next year.

Nigeria is also experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades, leaving food, medicine and basic goods priced far beyond the reach of many households. Violence by armed groups linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State West Africa Province has intensified throughout the year. A brigadier general was recently killed in an ISWAP attack in the northeast, and mass school kidnappings have surged.

Gunmen abducted more than 300 Catholic school students shortly after a separate attack at a public school that killed a deputy head teacher and led to the abduction of 25 schoolgirls.

Former President Donald Trump recently accused Nigeria of allowing violence against Christians by “Islamist terrorists” and threatened military action. Experts have rejected these claims as unfounded.