The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that cuts in humanitarian aid have pushed at least 1.2 million people in northeast Nigeria deeper into hunger, highlighting a worsening food crisis in the region.
Reduced funding for nutrition and food assistance has sharply scaled back life‑saving support, leaving vulnerable communities struggling to cope amid conflict, displacement and economic hardship.
Northeast Nigeria, particularly in states such as Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, has faced decades of insurgency and displacement, with communities dependent on humanitarian aid even before recent funding pressures.
The International Food Security Phase Classification system — known locally as the Cadre Harmonisé — is used to assess food crises. WFP’s latest analysis indicates that malnutrition has worsened from “serious” to “critical” in several northern areas, underlining the severity of the situation.
The ongoing crisis is not limited to Nigeria. Across West and Central Africa, a staggering 55 million people are expected to experience crisis‑level hunger or worse during the June–August 2026 lean season, with over 13 million children at risk of malnutrition — more than double the number seen in 2020.
According to the WFP, funding shortfalls last year forced a reduction of emergency programmes, cutting food and nutrition support to vulnerable groups. At its peak during the 2025 lean season, assistance was reaching around 1.3 million people, but current projections show that only about 72,000 people may receive help without immediate additional funds.
The agency also noted that more than 300,000 children were affected by cuts to nutrition programmes, which are crucial during early development stages. The deteriorating food security landscape has been driven by a combination of conflict‑induced displacement, inflation‑driven food price hikes, and dwindling humanitarian resources.
In WFP’s regional context, Nigeria together with Chad, Cameroon, and Niger accounts for 77 percent of the food insecurity burden in West and Central Africa, highlighting how interconnected crises extend beyond national borders.
The latest figures from WFP also show that 15,000 people in Borno State are at risk of catastrophic hunger for the first time in nearly a decade.
The deepening hunger crisis underscores the fragility of food security across conflict‑affected areas of northeastern Nigeria. For millions of displaced families and rural communities dependent on humanitarian support, reduced aid means harder choices between feeding children, seeking work, or migrating in search of basic sustenance.
The risk of negative coping strategies, including families reducing meals or pulling children out of school, intensifies as assistance dwindles.
Economists and humanitarian analysts warn that food insecurity not only undermines public health and development outcomes but also heightens social instability, particularly where violence and displacement have already strained community cohesion. Expanded malnutrition — especially among children — can have lifelong consequences for physical and cognitive development.
The WFP’s warning about aid cuts pushing 1.2 million people deeper into hunger in northeast Nigeria highlights an urgent need for increased funding and coordinated humanitarian action.
With millions at risk of crisis‑level food insecurity and malnutrition, mobilising resources and strengthening resilience mechanisms is imperative to avert further deterioration. Sustained engagement by donors, governments, and international partners will be crucial in reversing the trend and scaling up life‑saving assistance in 2026 and beyond.
