Nigeria is facing its worst hunger crisis on record as escalating insurgent attacks and shrinking international aid push millions toward starvation, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.
According to the WFP, nearly 35 million Nigerians could go hungry in 2026, the highest projection ever recorded since food security monitoring began. The agency says it will run out of resources by December, leaving millions without access to critical food and nutrition assistance.
The alarming forecast is based on the latest Cadre Harmonisé analysis, which tracks hunger across West Africa and the Sahel.
Insurgent Violence at Record High
Armed violence in northern Nigeria has surged in 2025, including attacks by al-Qaeda affiliate JNIM, which carried out its first strike in Nigeria last month, and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Recent incidents highlight the deepening crisis:
- ISWAP fighters killed a brigadier-general in northeast Nigeria.
- More than 300 Catholic school students were kidnapped by armed bandits in a mass abduction.
- A deputy head teacher was killed and 25 schoolgirls abducted in a separate school attack.
“These repeated attacks, combined with economic hardship, are putting communities under unbearable strain,” said David Stevenson, WFP’s country director for Nigeria.
Rural Communities Hit Hardest
Farmers and rural households in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe are suffering the most.
- 6 million people in these states lack basic food supplies.
- 15,000 people in Borno are projected to experience famine-like conditions.
- Child malnutrition remains highest in Borno, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara.
Nearly 1 million people in the northeast rely on WFP support. But due to funding shortfalls — worsened by major aid cuts from the United States under President Donald Trump and reductions by other donor nations — the agency was forced to scale back nutrition programmes in July, affecting more than 300,000 children.
In areas where clinics were shut down, child malnutrition levels worsened from “serious” to “critical” in the third quarter of 2025.
Funding Collapse Threatens 2026 Survival
WFP warns that unless new funding arrives urgently, it will exhaust its food and nutrition aid budget by December. This would leave millions of Nigerians — especially children and displaced families — without lifesaving assistance throughout 2026.
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