The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it may be forced to suspend emergency food and nutrition support for over 1.3 million vulnerable Nigerians in the North-East by the end of July.
The agency attributed the development to a dire funding shortfall.
WFP’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Margot van der Velden, issued the warning on Wednesday during a press briefing on Nigeria’s worsening humanitarian situation. She revealed that the organisation urgently requires $130 million to continue providing life-saving assistance over the next six months.
“In Nigeria today, just to give you an impression, 31 million people are facing acute food insecurity and are in need of life-saving assistance,” van der Velden said. “To put this in perspective, this is equivalent to the entire population of Texas (in the U.S.) going hungry.”
She explained that while WFP had managed to contain hunger in northern Nigeria during the first half of 2025, dwindling donor contributions have depleted food and nutrition stocks. The last supplies were dispatched from WFP warehouses in early July.
“At the beginning of August, we will have to face the heartbreaking reality of having to suspend our operations for the populations in northeast Nigeria. So our teams will have to tell the population that they no longer will receive aid, not because there is no need, but because there are no resources for that assistance,” she said.
Van der Velden warned that more than 1.3 million people, including 300,000 infants, could lose access to essential food and nutrition support. Without immediate funding, over 150 nutrition clinics run by WFP will shut down, halting treatment for thousands of malnourished children.
She also cautioned that the end of assistance could trigger dangerous survival tactics. “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,” she added.
Despite the challenges, van der Velden praised the Nigerian federal and Borno state governments for their leadership and efforts to address the crisis. “I think the government of Nigeria, as well as the governor in Borno state, has a very clear vision of a response and a plan,” she noted.
She further highlighted Nigeria’s significant financial commitment to the humanitarian response. “The government of Nigeria is the largest financier of this emergency response now in the northeast of Nigeria,” she stated. However, she emphasised that the scale and complexity of the crisis demand broader international support and innovative long-term solutions.