Northern Nigeria Faces “Worst Hunger Crisis in Memory” as Conflict and Aid Cuts Bite
Abuja, Nigeria
Parts of northern Nigeria are sliding toward an unprecedented hunger crisis as a combination of intensifying insurgent attacks and drastic cuts to humanitarian aid drive food insecurity to alarming levels. The World Food Programme (WFP) warns that nearly 35 million people could face severe food insecurity in 2026, the highest number on record since data collection began. Rural farming communities in states like Borno, Adamawa and Yobe – already battered by repeated violence from militant groups such as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) — are among the hardest hit. More than 6 million people in these areas currently lack adequate food supplies, and in Borno alone, about 15,000 are projected to face “famine-like conditions.” The WFP has already scaled down nutrition programmes, leaving thousands of children without critical support just as malnutrition rates spike. With funding expected to run out by early December, the humanitarian outlook is dire.
Why it matters
A hunger crisis of this magnitude threatens to destabilize not just Nigeria but the broader West African region. Widespread malnutrition and famine-level food insecurity risk triggering mass displacement, social breakdown, increased vulnerability to insurgent recruitment, and long-term damage to health and livelihoods. For a region already coping with insecurity and governance challenges, the humanitarian fallout could deepen cycles of poverty, violence, and instability.
What to watch
Monitor updates from WFP and other aid agencies about funding, emergency food distributions, and malnutrition assessments. Watch whether governments – in Nigeria and regionally — respond with relief packages, security reinforcements, or reinvestment in agricultural support. Keep an eye on migration trends and refugee flows within Nigeria and to neighbouring countries, and developments in the conflict zones that exacerbate or ease pressure.
