The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued an urgent warning, stating that growing instability and escalating attacks across northern Nigeria are driving food insecurity to levels never recorded before.
The WFP’s warning follows the release of the latest Cadre Harmonisé—a key regional food security analysis—which projects that nearly 35 million people in Nigeria will face severe food insecurity during the 2026 lean season (June to August). This represents the highest number ever recorded in the country.
The surge in hunger is directly linked to the intensification of conflict throughout 2025. Recent security reports indicate that the al-Qaeda affiliated group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) reportedly carried out its first attack in Nigeria last month. Simultaneously, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) is said to be actively pursuing expansion across the Sahel region.
Recent high-profile incidents underscore the danger, including the killing of a senior military officer in the northeast and attacks on schools where hundreds of pupils and several teachers remain missing.
“Communities are under severe pressure from repeated attacks and economic stress,” said David Stevenson, WFP Country Director in Nigeria. “If we can’t keep families fed and food insecurity at bay, growing desperation could fuel increased instability with insurgent groups exploiting hunger to expand their influence, creating a security threat that extends across West Africa and beyond.”
Northern Nigeria is currently experiencing its most severe hunger crisis in a decade, with rural farming communities disproportionately affected. In the conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, nearly six million people are projected to face crisis levels of hunger or worse during the 2026 lean season. This figure includes approximately 15,000 people in Borno State who are expected to confront catastrophic hunger—a classification equivalent to famine-like conditions. Children in Borno, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara face the highest risk, with severe malnutrition rates.
The dire situation is compounded by a critical funding shortfall. In the northeast, where close to one million people rely on WFP assistance, the agency was forced to scale down vital nutrition programmes in July, affecting over 300,000 children. In some areas where feeding clinics were closed, malnutrition levels have since deteriorated from “serious” to “critical.”
The WFP has warned that, without immediate and urgent funding, its resources for emergency food and nutrition assistance will be exhausted by December, leaving millions without vital support in 2026. The agency stresses that this deepening crisis is one the international community cannot afford to ignore.
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