Sopuruchi Onwuka
More than one million people in northeast Nigeria could lose emergency food and nutrition assistance within weeks unless urgent funding is secured, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Thursday.
The UN agency said it urgently needs $129 million to sustain operations in the region over the next six months, cautioning that life-saving programs could be scaled back or halted entirely if funds are not received in time.
WFP said Nigeria is facing one of its worst hunger crises in recent years, with nearly 35 million people projected to experience acute and severe food insecurity during the upcoming lean season.
In Borno State alone, around 15,000 people are at risk of falling into catastrophic hunger, just one step short of famine.
“These are the worst levels of hunger recorded in a decade,” the agency said.
The crisis is being driven by renewed violence in northern Nigeria, which has devastated farming communities, displaced families and destroyed food reserves. Ongoing insecurity has also disrupted markets and restricted access to agricultural land, further eroding households’ ability to cope.
WFP’s Country Director for Nigeria, David Stevenson, warned that cutting assistance now would have far-reaching consequences.
“Now is not the time to stop food assistance,” Stevenson said, cautioning that funding shortfalls could trigger “catastrophic humanitarian, security and economic consequences” for the country’s most vulnerable populations.
He said many families have already been forced to flee their homes in search of food and shelter, and warned that further reductions in aid could push communities beyond their breaking point.
