WFP to halt aid for 1.3 million in northeast Nigeria amid escalating hunger crisis

Abuja — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it will suspend all emergency food and nutrition support for 1.3 million people in north-east Nigeria by the end of July, due to a critical lack of funding. The decision comes amid rising levels of violence and record hunger across the country.
The agency confirmed that its food and nutrition supplies have now been entirely depleted. Its final distributions are currently underway, with life-saving assistance set to cease once existing stockpiles are exhausted.
The funding shortfall leaves millions of vulnerable Nigerians facing increasingly desperate choices  from enduring acute hunger to migrating in search of relief, or falling prey to exploitation by extremist groups active in the region.
“Nearly 31 million people in Nigeria are now facing acute hunger, a record number,” said David Stevenson, WFP Country Director for Nigeria. “At the same time, WFP’s operations in north-east Nigeria will collapse without immediate, sustained funding. This is no longer just a humanitarian crisis  it’s a growing threat to regional stability, as families pushed beyond their limits are left with nowhere to turn.”
Children are expected to be among the hardest hit if assistance is halted. More than 150 WFP-supported nutrition centres in Borno and Yobe states are due to close, cutting off vital treatment for over 300,000 children under the age of two. Many of these children are at heightened risk of wasting, a severe form of malnutrition.
The humanitarian crisis is exacerbated by persistent conflict in the region. Escalating violence from insurgent groups has displaced approximately 2.3 million people across the Lake Chad Basin, placing immense pressure on already overstretched resources.
“When emergency assistance ends, many will migrate in search of food and shelter. Others will adopt negative coping mechanisms  including potentially joining insurgent groups  to survive,” Stevenson warned. “Food assistance can often prevent these outcomes. It allows us to feed families, help rebuild economies, and support long-term recovery.”
Earlier this year, WFP was able to deliver essential aid to 1.3 million people across northern Nigeria. Plans had been in place to expand assistance to a further 720,000 people in the latter half of 2025  but these operations are now in jeopardy without urgent financial support.
Despite having the logistics, infrastructure, and experience to scale up its humanitarian response, WFP says it urgently needs 130 million dollars to prevent an imminent breakdown in aid delivery and continue operations through to the end of 2025.

PS