Nigeria Hunger Crisis
Northern Nigeria Hunger Crisis Reaches Decade High, WFP Warns 17 Million Amid Conflict
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Key Points
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WFP says 17 million people in nine conflict‑hit northern Nigerian states are now in crisis, emergency or catastrophic hunger; notably, 6.2 million people in three northeast states are acutely food insecure, and WFP can assist fewer than half of the 1.3 million it supported last year there, with about $89 million needed over the next six months.
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The number of locations inaccessible to WFP has doubled, with an additional 15 areas now partially inaccessible, complicating aid delivery as violence spreads and displaces people from farmland.
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Nigeria’s foreign affairs ministry and WFP formalized their cooperation through a Letter of Commission delivered at Tafawa Balewa House in Abuja, signaling a stepped‑up partnership and commitment to deepen collaboration across ministries.
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A ministry statement highlights focus areas for joint action – food security, humanitarian assistance, nutrition, resilience-building and sustainable development – reflecting a broad, integrated approach to addressing root causes of hunger.
More than 17 million people in northern Nigeria are now facing crisis, emergency, or catastrophic hunger — the worst level in nearly a decade, according to WFP. The United Nations food agency says conflict, shrinking aid budgets, and blocked access roads are driving the surge across nine states.
In three northeast states alone, 6.2 million people are acutely food insecure, Arise TV reports. WFP says it can now help fewer than half of the 1.3 million people it assisted in those states last year — and needs about $89 million over the next six months just to keep up.
Borno State Bears the Heaviest Hunger Burden
Borno State remains the hardest-hit area. More than 3 million people there are acutely food insecure, with hundreds of thousands facing severe, life-threatening hunger, Reuters via Yahoo News reports. Violence has pushed people off their farmland, cutting food production just as the lean season — the annual period before harvest when food stocks run lowest — tightens supplies further.
The situation is getting harder to fix from the outside, too. The number of locations that WFP cannot reach at all has doubled, Market Screener notes. An additional 15 areas are now only partially reachable. Aid workers simply cannot get to many of the people who need food most.
Violence Spreads, Displacing Farmers and Cutting Aid Routes
Armed conflict across the nine affected states is not staying in one place. Fighting is spreading into new areas, forcing families to flee and leaving farmland empty, Arise TV reports. Each new displacement creates more mouths to feed and fewer hands to grow food.
Funding cuts from Western donors have made things worse. WFP's budget has shrunk even as needs have grown, Okay Africa reports. That gap — roughly $89 million for just six months — means the agency must choose who gets help and who does not.
Nigeria and WFP Sign Formal Cooperation Agreement
Nigeria's government is stepping up its response. The foreign affairs ministry and WFP formalized a new partnership through a Letter of Commission, signed at Tafawa Balewa House in Abuja, Arise TV reports. The deal is meant to deepen cooperation across multiple government ministries at once.
The agreement targets five key areas: food security, humanitarian aid, nutrition, resilience-building, and sustainable development. Both sides say they want to tackle root causes of hunger, not just hand out emergency food. The goal is to combine short-term relief with long-term development so communities can eventually feed themselves.
Poverty and Inflation Make a Bad Crisis Worse
The hunger crisis does not exist in isolation. Nigeria has faced rising poverty and steep inflation in recent years, making food less affordable even in areas not hit by conflict, Reuters via Yahoo News reports. For millions of families, even when food is available in markets, they cannot afford to buy it.
WFP warns that without urgent funding and better access, the crisis will deepen through the lean season. Nearly two million people are already at emergency or catastrophic hunger levels, Market Screener notes — one step below outright famine. Time is running short.
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