Over 34 million Nigerians, including 1.4 million displaced people in the Northeast, now face the risk of hunger as the United Nations (UN) cuts back its humanitarian funding in Nigeria.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has confirmed it has run out of resources to continue food support in the region, just as the country enters its lean season from June to August 2025, when food is usually scarce.
“We don’t have any more to give after this month’s cycle. Our warehouses are empty, and we are desperate for any generous donations,” said Trust Mlambo, WFP head of operations in Borno State.
In Gwoza, Borno State, Aisha Abubakar, who lost most of her family in attacks and illness, expressed fear for the future.
“The aid has stopped, and people are being killed on the farm. What are we going to do with our lives?” she asked.
Another resident, 25-year-old Hauwa Badamasi, said she couldn’t farm due to insecurity. She was devastated after learning her daughter, Amina, was malnourished despite her efforts.
“Our survival depends on these essentials,” she said.
The Cadre Harmonisé Food and Nutrition Insecurity Analysis, supported by the Nigerian government, UN agencies, and partners, projected that 34.7 million Nigerians could face food insecurity by August 2025.
Already, 1.8 million children in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe are at risk of Severe Acute Malnutrition, according to the UN’s 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan.
International medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that 652 children have died in its clinics this year due to malnutrition.
“The true scale of the crisis exceeds all expectations,” said Ahmed Aldikhari, MSF’s representative in Nigeria.
Trond Jensen, Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria, said funding cuts from major donors like the US, UK, Germany, and the Netherlands have left the UN unable to meet the growing crisis.
“60 percent of our previous humanitarian funding came from the US. That is now history,” he said.
Aid agencies warn that the crisis may lead to a rise in recruitment by terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, as more hungry and jobless youths become vulnerable.
“If people here can’t even have their next meal, for sure, they will be pushed to go just across the hills to enroll,” Mlambo warned.
Boko Haram and its splinter group linked to the Islamic State have used food and money in the past to lure desperate young people into their ranks.
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In response, the Borno State Government says it has policies in place to help its citizens. Prof Usman Tar, the state’s Commissioner for Information, said Governor Babagana Zulum had already set up programmes to manage the situation.
“Borno has a 10-year strategic development plan. We are prioritising the most vulnerable and planning for the long term,” Tar told Daily Trust.
However, not everyone sees the funding cut as entirely negative. Security expert Abdullahi Garba described the situation as “a blessing in disguise,” claiming that foreign aid had made many in the region dependent and vulnerable.
“It has both positive and negative sides. Now people will rethink survival and maybe even resist terrorist recruitment,” he said.
He added, “We must now look inward and find our own solutions.”
Recently, Vice President Kashim Shettima admitted that 40 percent of Nigerian children under five have been denied full physical and mental development due to malnutrition.
The federal government has set up a national nutrition board to tackle the issue. But many are asking how soon real help will reach those most in need, especially now that the support many relied on for years is gone.
UNICEF Nigeria earlier warned that 5.4 million under-five children in the North suffer from acute malnutrition, with projections suggesting one million more cases by April 2025.
The organisation called for the Nigerian government to increase nutrition efforts and promote child spacing to deal with the problem of rapid population growth.