Mirian Gom 
ABUJA, Nigeria – Deepening funding cuts are pushing at least 1.2 million people in Northeast Nigeria further into hunger, the World Food Programme (WFP) warns, as food insecurity reaches its most severe levels in nearly a decade.
The UN agency on Friday says reduced humanitarian financing forces it to slash life-saving nutrition programmes, leaving vulnerable communities exposed at the height of conflict, displacement and economic strain. According to WFP, more than 300,000 Nigerian children lost access to essential nutrition support last year due to funding shortfalls.
Malnutrition levels in several northern states now deteriorate from “serious” to “critical,” the agency says, citing data from the Cadre Harmonisé, West Africa’s food insecurity monitoring system. The framework ranks hunger on a five-point scale, with the highest-level signalling catastrophic famine.
WFP says it will reach just 72,000 people in February, a sharp drop from the 1.3 million assisted during the 2025 lean season. In Borno State alone, 15,000 people face catastrophic hunger for the first time in almost ten years.
Across West and Central Africa, the crisis intensifies. WFP projects 55 million people will endure crisis-level hunger between June and August, while 13 million children are expected to suffer acute malnutrition this year. More than three million people already face emergency food insecurity—double the figure recorded in 2020.
“The reduced funding we saw in 2025 has deepened hunger and malnutrition across the region,” says Sarah Longford, WFP Deputy Regional Director. “As needs outpace funding, so too does the risk of young people fall into desperation.”
Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger account for 77 per cent of regional food insecurity, WFP notes. The agency urgently needs $453 million within six months to sustain operations, warning that without rapid investment, communities may soon exhaust their coping mechanisms.
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Oluwatobi Adu 
Edino Chubiyo Cornelius 
Otamere Gladness 
Korede Abdullah