A statement on the World Food Programme (WFP) website on Thursday described Nigeria as facing one of the worst hunger crises in recent memory.
More than one million people in northeast Nigeria could lose access to emergency food and nutrition aid within weeks unless urgent funding is secured.
A statement on the World Food Programme (WFP) website on Thursday described Nigeria as facing one of the worst hunger crises in recent memory.
As the world’s largest humanitarian organization, WFP saves lives in emergencies and provides food assistance to help communities recover from conflict, disasters, and the effects of climate change, while promoting stability and prosperity.
“The United Nations World Food Programme is raising the alarm as over one million people in northeast Nigeria risk losing access to emergency food and nutrition support within weeks unless new funding is urgently received,” the release said.
“Violence is escalating across the north, forcing WFP to reduce food assistance from 1.3 million people to just 72,000,” it added.
“If WFP cannot continue supporting displaced populations in camps, people will leave in search of survival. Some may attempt to migrate, while others could join insurgent groups to feed themselves and their families,” said David Stevenson, WFP’s Country Director in Nigeria.
The WFP reported that nearly 35 million people are projected to face acute food insecurity during the lean season, including around 15,000 individuals in Borno state who are at risk of catastrophic hunger, one step from famine.
“This crisis is unfolding amid renewed violence in the north, which has devastated rural communities, displaced families, and destroyed food reserves. Now is not the time to stop food assistance,” Stevenson said.
Halting aid, he warned, would have catastrophic humanitarian, security, and economic consequences for the most vulnerable people, who have already been forced from their homes.
“Humanitarian solutions are still possible and remain one of the last stabilizing forces preventing mass displacement and regional spillover.”
The WFP stressed that these are the worst hunger levels recorded in a decade and urgently called for $129 million to sustain its operations in the northeast over the next six months.
Without this funding, the agency warned, its life-saving operations could shut down.
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