The World Food Programme has warned that aid cuts have pushed 1.2 million people in Northeast Nigeria deeper into hunger.
The warning issued on Friday cited the Cadre Harmonisé, the regional equivalent of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which rates food insecurity on a scale from one to five. IPC levels range up to catastrophic famine and help governments and agencies plan responses.
“In Nigeria, funding shortfalls last year forced WFP to scale down nutrition programmes, affecting more than 300,000 children,” the agency said. “Malnutrition levels in several northern states have deteriorated from ‘serious’ to ‘critical.’”
WFP said it will reach only 72,000 people in February, down from 1.3 million people assisted during the 2025 lean season. The agency said the cuts come as conflict, displacement, and economic pressure continue to drive hunger.
Across West and Central Africa, 55 million people are expected to face crisis-level hunger or worse during the June to August lean season. WFP projects that 13 million children will suffer malnutrition this year, while more than three million people will face emergency food insecurity, more than double the 2020 figure.
The UN agency said funding cuts have continued despite rising violence and displacement. Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger account for 77 per cent of food insecurity in the region, according to WFP.
The latest figures show that 15,000 people in Borno State are at risk of catastrophic hunger for the first time in nearly a decade. WFP said conflict, displacement, and economic turmoil have long driven hunger, but funding cuts are now pushing communities beyond their coping capacity.
“The reduced funding we saw in 2025 has deepened hunger and malnutrition across the region,” said Sarah Longford, WFP Deputy Regional Director. “As needs outpace funding, so too does the risk of young people falling into desperation.”
WFP said it urgently requires more than 453 million dollars over the next six months to continue humanitarian assistance across West and Central Africa. It also warned that more than half a million vulnerable people in Cameroon risk losing assistance in the coming weeks.
In Mali, areas receiving reduced food rations saw a nearly 65 per cent surge in acute hunger, compared with a 34 per cent decrease where full rations were provided. Continued insecurity has disrupted supply lines to major cities, leaving 1.5 million vulnerable people at risk of crisis-level hunger.
WFP stressed that adequate funding is vital for operations that improve food security across West and Central Africa. Teams have helped rehabilitate 300,000 hectares of farmland, supporting four million people in more than 3,400 villages.
Programmes include school meals, nutrition, capacity building, seasonal aid, and infrastructure development to stabilise local economies and reduce aid dependency.
“To break the cycle of hunger for future generations, we need a paradigm shift in 2026,” Longford said. “WFP stands ready to scale up, but we cannot do it without sustained investment,” she said.
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