The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday, January 16, warned that thousands of people in northeast Nigeria are facing the risk of catastrophic food shortages for the first time in nearly ten years, as cuts to humanitarian assistance deepen malnutrition across the region.
According to the report, Borno State alone, around 15,000 people are at risk, while more than 13 million children in the Northeast are projected to suffer malnutrition in 2026, the agency said.
Conflict, displacement, and economic pressure have driven food insecurity for years, but WFP said reductions in humanitarian aid were now pushing vulnerable communities beyond their ability to cope. “The reduced funding we saw in 2025 has deepened hunger and malnutrition across the region,” said Sarah Longford, WFP’s deputy regional director for West and Central Africa.
Across West and Central Africa, 55 million people are facing severe food shortages, with more than three-quarters of those affected located in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger, WFP said.
