The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that more than one million people in northeastern Nigeria are at risk of losing access to life-saving food and nutrition assistance within weeks, as critical funding gaps force a drastic reduction in humanitarian support amid worsening insecurity and hunger.
In a statement released on Thursday, the agency disclosed that assistance will be sharply scaled down to just 72,000 people in February, a steep decline from the 1.3 million people supported during last year’s lean season between May and October.
The development comes as food insecurity deepens across the country, with WFP projecting that about 35 million Nigerians could face severe hunger this year, the highest figure recorded in the country and the largest on the African continent since the agency began data collection.
WFP, which has operated in northeastern Nigeria since 2015, said it has consistently reached close to two million vulnerable people annually in conflict-affected areas but can no longer sustain that level of response.
The agency noted that funds which had supported emergency operations in recent months have now been fully exhausted.
The WFP Country Director in Nigeria, David Stevenson, warned that the funding crisis could trigger catastrophic humanitarian, security and economic consequences, particularly for displaced populations who have fled their homes in search of food and safety.
The situation has been compounded by renewed violence across northern Nigeria, which has displaced an estimated 3.5 million people, destroyed food stocks and pushed malnutrition to critical levels in several states.
Persistent attacks by armed groups have also prevented farmers from accessing their farmlands, further undermining local food production.
Nigeria’s food crisis has been intensified by a major reduction in United Nations food assistance following cuts to the United States Agency for International Development under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The funding pullback has affected several countries across West and Central Africa, prompting WFP to scale down nutrition programmes in the region as early as July.
WFP cautioned that without urgent financial support, millions of vulnerable Nigerians could be left without assistance at a time when humanitarian needs are rapidly escalating.
(AP News)
