The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has expressed worries that it may be forced to suspend all emergency food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million people in Northeast Nigeria at this end of July.
The world body said this is due to critical funding shortfalls which come at a time of escalating violence and record levels of hunger.
The WFP said it urgently requires US$130 million to prevent an imminent pipeline break and sustain food and nutrition operations through the end of 2025 as its food and nutrition stocks have been completely exhausted.
“The Organization’s last supplies left warehouses in early July and life-saving assistance will end after the current round of distributions is completed.”
The WFP Country Director for Nigeria, David Stevenson told the media that without immediate funding, millions of vulnerable people will face impossible choices, endure increasingly severe hunger, migrate, or possibly risk exploitation by extremist groups in the region.
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Stevenson said nearly 31 million people in Nigeria are facing acute hunger, a record number. According to him, “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 will be among the worst affected if vital aid ends, WFP said
The Country Director explains that more than 150 WFP-supported nutrition clinics in Borno and Yobe states will close, ending potentially life-saving treatment for more than 300,000 children under 2, and placing them at increased risk of wasting.
In the first half of 2025, WFP had been able to hold hunger at bay across Northern Nigeria, reaching 1.3 million people with life-saving food and nutrition assistance. Support for an additional 720,000 people was planned for the second half of the year, before funding shortfalls put life-saving programmes in jeopardy.
WFP has the capacity and expertise to deliver and scale-up its humanitarian response, but the critical funding gap is paralyzing operations.
(Editor: Ken Eseni)
