The United Nations World Food Programme has declared that northern Nigeria is sliding toward its worst food security emergency in nearly ten years, with more than 17 million people now trapped in crisis, emergency, or catastrophic hunger conditions across nine conflict-affected states.
The figure represents a jump of close to two million people compared to earlier projections, according to a Cadre Harmonisé assessment released by WFP. The deterioration is being driven by worsening insecurity and a severe collapse in humanitarian funding.
Borno State Bears the Worst of the Northern Nigerian Hunger Crisis
Borno State has recorded the highest concentration of food insecurity in the region. More than three million people there are acutely food-insecure. Of that number, over 750,000 are facing severe hunger, and more than 10,000 have been classified at the catastrophic level, the most extreme category on the hunger scale.
WFP Regional Director for West and Central Africa Kinday Samba said the spread of insecurity to new geographical areas is making conditions harder to manage. Renewed armed attacks are displacing communities before aid can reach them, she said.
The number of locations that humanitarian workers cannot access has doubled. Fifteen additional areas are now partially off-limits to frontline relief teams. Attacks and illegal checkpoints along major road corridors are blocking the movement of supplies, leaving air transport as the only workable option in many locations.
Food-Insecure Population Rises as WFP Funding Falls Short
Across the three northeastern states, the number of food-insecure people has climbed to 6.2 million. WFP said it currently has resources to reach only 740,000 of them. That leaves roughly 5.5 million people, the majority of them children, without access to food and nutrition support.
That figure marks a sharp drop from the 1.3 million people the agency was able to assist at the height of the 2025 lean season. The decline reflects a direct funding shortfall rather than any reduction in need.
WFP said the suspension of food assistance in parts of the region has pushed households into dangerous survival strategies. Some reports indicate individuals have joined armed groups to secure food or income. The agency did not specify the states or communities where those reports originated.
In displacement camps where assistance has been cut, WFP reported an increase in exploitation and gender-based violence. Women and children are bearing the heaviest burden of those abuses, according to the agency.
WFP Demands $89 Million to Prevent Further Collapse
To maintain food and nutrition operations alongside critical logistics infrastructure across northern Nigeria, WFP said it needs $89 million within the next six months. Without that funding, the agency warned that hunger would deepen, displacement would accelerate, and instability would continue to spread across the region.
The Cadre Harmonisé update placed the total number of food-insecure people across all of Nigeria at 36.2 million. That national figure reflects hunger conditions well beyond the northeast, though the conflict-affected northern states account for the most acute cases.
WFP did not confirm which donor governments or institutions have been approached for the $89 million or whether any pledges have been received. The agency described the funding requirement as urgent.
The Nigerian government did not issue a public statement in response to the WFP assessment at the time of publication. Details of any federal coordination with the agency were not immediately available.
Humanitarian organizations operating in the northeast have repeatedly flagged access constraints as a critical barrier this year. The doubling of inaccessible locations compounds a logistical situation that was already strained before the latest security deterioration.
WFP’s warning lands at a period when international humanitarian budgets are under pressure globally. Several major donor countries have cut overseas aid allocations in 2026, though the agency did not draw a direct link between specific donor decisions and the current shortfall in its Nigeria operations.
With the lean season approaching and security conditions showing no sign of improvement, the agency said the window to prevent a deeper catastrophe is narrowing.
