The World Food Programme, a humanitarian agency of the United Nations responsible for global food security interventions, has warned that recent reductions in international donor funding have intensified hunger and malnutrition across Northeast Nigeria, a conflict-affected region located in the Lake Chad Basin of West Africa.
According to the agency, an estimated 1.2 million people in the region have been pushed further into food insecurity due to decreased assistance levels. The warning was issued on Friday based on new classifications from the Cadre Harmonisé, a West and Central Africa food security analysis framework similar to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification used globally to rank hunger conditions from Phase One (Minimal) to Phase Five (Catastrophic Famine).
The World Food Programme explained that funding shortages in 2025 forced the organisation to scale down several nutrition programmes impacting more than 300,000 children. The agency noted that in several northern states of Nigeria, malnutrition levels have deteriorated from “serious” to “critical” thresholds.
The United Nations agency added that it expects to reach only 72,000 vulnerable people in February 2026, a dramatic decline compared to the 1.3 million beneficiaries supported during Nigeria’s 2025 lean season, which typically spans June to August when household food stocks are depleted.
Across West and Central Africa, the humanitarian situation has worsened amid protracted conflicts, population displacement, and economic pressures. Regional projections indicate that more than 55 million people may experience crisis-level hunger or worse during the upcoming lean season, while approximately 13 million children are expected to suffer from malnutrition in 2026.
The World Food Programme further disclosed that more than three million individuals across the region are currently facing emergency-level food insecurity, which is more than twice the recorded figure in 2020. Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger account for 77 percent of regional food insecurity, reflecting the severity of humanitarian needs in the Lake Chad Basin.
The latest data also reveal that approximately 15,000 people in Borno State, located in Northeast Nigeria and considered the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency, are at risk of catastrophic food scarcity for the first time in nearly ten years.
The agency stated that although conflict, displacement, and economic turmoil drive hunger in the region, reduced international financing has significantly weakened coping mechanisms for already vulnerable communities. “The reduced funding we saw in 2025 has deepened hunger and malnutrition across the region. As needs outpace funding, so too does the risk of young people falling into desperation,” said Sarah Longford, the Deputy Regional Director of the World Food Programme.
The agency said it urgently requires at least $453 million United States Dollars over the next six months to sustain essential food and nutrition programmes. It also warned that more than half a million vulnerable people in Cameroon could lose critical assistance in the coming weeks.
In Mali, the agency observed that reduced food rations contributed to nearly a 65 percent surge in acute hunger in certain areas, compared to a 34 percent reduction in places where full rations were maintained. Continued insecurity in Mali has disrupted supply corridors to major urban centres, leaving at least 1.5 million vulnerable individuals at risk of crisis-level hunger.
Despite these challenges, the World Food Programme highlighted resilience programmes aimed at reversing food insecurity trends. The agency reported that more than 300,000 hectares of farmland have been rehabilitated, supporting more than four million people across more than 3,400 communities in West and Central Africa. These interventions include school meals, nutrition support, seasonal assistance, agricultural rehabilitation, capacity building, and infrastructure development designed to strengthen economic resilience and reduce long-term aid dependency.
“To break the cycle of hunger for future generations, we need a paradigm shift in 2026,” Longford said while urging national governments and development partners to increase investment in early preparedness, anticipatory action, and resilience-building to empower local communities.
Okay News reports.
