IntelScoops

ABUJA, Nigeria — The United Nations has raised alarms over a rapidly worsening hunger emergency in northern Nigeria, calling the scale of malnutrition and food insecurity “unprecedented” in the region’s modern history.

At least five million children are already suffering from acute malnutrition, according to humanitarian analysts, despite northern Nigeria being the country’s long-standing agricultural heartland. The area, traditionally known for its production of maize, millet, and sorghum, is now struggling to sustain its own population amid economic hardship, insecurity, and a breakdown of food distribution systems.

In Borno State and other northeastern regions, more than one million people are believed to be facing immediate hunger. The World Food Programme’s West Africa Regional Director, Margot van der Velden, warned that nearly 31 million Nigerians across the country are experiencing acute food insecurity, and many require life-saving food support.

“This is not just a crisis. It’s a catastrophe in the making,” van der Velden said, as the WFP reported critical shortages of food and nutrition supplies.

Shrinking Aid at the Worst Time

The crisis is being compounded by severe funding shortfalls. Multiple aid agencies operating in West Africa have either scaled back or shut down operations following the dismantling of USAID infrastructure under the Trump administration, leaving millions without access to emergency food or medical care.

The World Food Programme has warned that its emergency operations in Nigeria would cease altogether by July 31, citing critical funding gaps. “Our food and nutrition stocks have been completely exhausted,” the agency stated bluntly.

As of late July, the WFP’s urgent appeal for $130 million to sustain its Nigeria operations through 2025 had received only 21% of the required funding, a shortfall that experts say puts millions at risk of famine.

Agricultural Collapse Meets Conflict

While Nigeria remains one of Africa’s largest economies, conflict in the north, rising inflation, and climate shocks such as droughts and flooding have left rural communities unable to harvest or transport crops. Armed groups continue to disrupt farming and displace families across the region.

“People are watching their children waste away not because there is no food in the world, but because global aid is vanishing and the local systems have collapsed,” said one humanitarian worker operating in Borno, who asked not to be named.

The UN has urged the international community to urgently step up both funding and political pressure to address what it describes as a preventable crisis — if swift action is taken.

Without intervention, aid workers warn, northern Nigeria could soon witness famine-like conditions in areas that were once considered food baskets for the entire nation.