United Nations (UN) agency, the World Food Programme (WFP) has revealed that thousands of people in Nigeria’s conflict-hit north-east are facing the risk of catastrophic food shortages for the first time in nearly a decade.
In a statement issued on Friday, the UN agency said about 15,000 people in Borno State are at immediate risk amid worsening malnutrition and prolonged militant unrest.
The WFP said aid cuts have deepened hunger across the region, pushing already vulnerable communities beyond their ability to cope.
It said across west and central Africa, about 55 million people are facing severe food shortages, adding that more than three-quarters of those affected are in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
The WFP did not attribute the crisis to specific donors but noted that humanitarian agencies have raised concerns since the United States began reducing aid under its “America First” policy and other countries, including Britain, cut aid budgets to increase defence spending.
The agency said more than 13 million children in the region are projected to suffer malnutrition this year.
Conflict, displacement and economic pressures have driven food insecurity for years, the WFP said, adding that funding cuts are now worsening the situation.
“The reduced funding we saw in 2025 has deepened hunger and malnutrition across the region,” said Sarah Longford, deputy regional director of the WFP for west and central Africa.
The agency said funding shortfalls in 2025 forced it to scale back nutrition programmes in Nigeria, affecting more than 300,000 children.
It recalled earlier warnings that nearly 35 million people could go hungry as its resources ran out in December.
The WFP said insecurity in Mali has disrupted food supply routes, leaving 1.5 million people facing crisis levels of hunger, adding that more than 500,000 people in Cameroon could be cut off from aid in the coming weeks.
The UN agency said it requires more than $453 million over the next six months to sustain humanitarian assistance across west and central Africa.