The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a warning that food insecurity in Nigeria could reach unprecedented levels in 2026 with close to 35 million people projected to face severe hunger if current security and funding conditions continue to deteriorate.
According to the agency, Nigeria’s humanitarian outlook has worsened due to escalating militant violence across the northern region and a rapid decline in resources available for emergency assistance.
The organisation said its existing funds will be exhausted by December, placing millions who currently depend on aid at risk of losing critical support.
WFP’s assessment, based on the latest regional food-security analysis for the Sahel and West Africa, indicates that Nigeria is tracking toward its highest hunger figures on record.
The agency highlighted that sustained attacks by armed groups have strained rural communities, restricted movement, and disrupted farming cycles, creating severe pressure on households already battling economic stress.
Insurgent activity has intensified in 2025 with multiple armed factions expanding operations into vulnerable communities.
Security analysts report that both long-established and newly active groups have carried out high-impact attacks, including assaults on military personnel and mass abductions targeting schools.
The growing reach of these groups has created new pockets of displacement and heightened instability.
WFP said rural areas in the northeast remain the most affected, particularly in states where agriculture is a primary source of livelihood.
Millions of residents in these regions lack reliable access to food, while several thousand face conditions resembling famine due to repeated disruptions in planting and harvesting.
Nutrition indicators among children have also deteriorated sharply. The agency recorded increases in acute malnutrition in states where humanitarian clinics were forced to scale down or shut operations following funding cuts earlier in the year. These reductions left hundreds of thousands of children without access to essential nutrition programmes.
The organisation noted that international contributions have declined as donor nations reduce foreign aid budgets.
The United States, which has historically been WFP’s largest contributor, has lowered its assistance levels, while other major donors have also implemented reductions, creating a widening resource gap.
With almost one million people currently relying on WFP operations in the northeast alone, the agency emphasised that the absence of new funding will severely limit its ability to continue emergency food and nutrition interventions in 2026.
WFP has called for urgent international support to prevent a large-scale hunger emergency. The agency also urged strengthened security measures to stabilise affected communities, restore agricultural activities, and protect vulnerable populations across conflict-prone states.