Nigeria Faces Worst Hunger In Decade As Aid Cuts Hit Northeast, UN Warns

The U.N. World Food Programme on Friday warned that thousands of people in the northeast are facing the risk of catastrophic food shortages for the first time in nearly a decade, as aid cuts deepen malnutrition across the region.

In Borno State alone, around 15,000 people are at risk, with more than 13 million children in the Northeast region projected to suffer malnutrition this year, the WFP said.

Conflict, displacement, and economic pressures have driven food insecurity for years, but cuts to humanitarian assistance were now pushing vulnerable communities beyond their ability to cope, the statement added.

“The reduced funding we saw in 2025 has deepened hunger and malnutrition across the region,” Sarah Longford, WFP’s deputy regional director for West and Central Africa, said.

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Across West and Central Africa, 55 million people are facing severe food shortages, with more than three-quarters of the people affected in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger, it added.

The U.N. body did not specify funding amounts, but agencies have been raising the alarm since the Trump administration began reducing aid as part of its “America First” policy last year, and Britain and others cut aid budgets to boost spending on defense.

Funding shortfalls in 2025 had already forced WFP to scale back nutrition programmes in Nigeria, affecting more than 300,000 children, after the agency warned that nearly 35 million people could go hungry as its resources ran out in December.

“In Nigeria, WFP will only be able to reach 72,000 people in February, a drastic reduction from the 1.3 million assisted during the 2025 lean season”.

Elsewhere, insecurity in Mali has disrupted food supply routes, leaving 1.5 million people facing crisis levels of hunger, while more than half a million people in Cameroon risk being cut off from aid in the coming weeks, the statement said.

The U.N. agency said it needed more than $453 million over the next six months to continue providing humanitarian assistance across the region.

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It warned that without urgent resources and action, the most vulnerable people in West and Central Africa are headed for yet another dire year.

“To break the cycle of hunger for future generations, we need a paradigm shift in 2026. National governments and their partners must increase investment in preparedness, anticipatory action, and resilience-building to empower communities,” said Longford.

The WFP noted that it urgently requires more than $453 million over the next six months to continue providing life-saving humanitarian assistance across the region.