More than 17 million people across northern Nigeria are facing severe hunger as conflict, displacement and funding shortages drive food insecurity to its worst levels in nearly a decade, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Thursday (2 July).
The agency said its latest food security assessment found nearly two million more people are now facing crisis, emergency or catastrophic levels of hunger than previously projected.
The crisis spans nine conflict-affected states, where violence by Islamist insurgents in the northeast and armed criminal gangs across other northern regions has displaced communities, cut off access to farmland and restricted humanitarian operations.
The situation is worsening during the annual lean season, when households typically exhaust their food supplies before the next harvest.
In Borno State, more than three million people are acutely food insecure, including more than 750,000 facing severe hunger and more than 10,000 experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger.
WFP said humanitarian access has deteriorated sharply, with the number of inaccessible areas doubling and major supply routes increasingly disrupted by attacks and illegal checkpoints.
The agency said it can now support only 740,000 people across three northeastern states, down from 1.3 million during the 2025 lean season, despite 6.2 million people in the region requiring food assistance.
“What concerns us most is how this crisis is expanding,” said Kinday Samba.
“For years, insurgent attacks and violence were largely concentrated in parts of northeast Nigeria. Today, they are spreading across a much wider area.”
WFP warned that shrinking food assistance is forcing many people to adopt desperate coping strategies, including joining armed groups in exchange for food or income.
The agency also said women and children in camps where aid has been suspended face increasing risks of exploitation and gender-based violence.
WFP said it urgently needs US$89 million over the next six months to sustain food, nutrition and logistics support across northern Nigeria.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian ports and warned that power plants and bridges could be...
The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is spreading faster than efforts to contain it, global humanitarian organisation Méd...
Kyrgyzstan has introduced an indefinite ban on the export of crude oil and petroleum products by road and rail in an effort to prevent fuel shortages ...
The Iranian Army's Ground Force promised a crushing response to the U.S. after an air raid on its barracks in the southern city of Bampur on Wednesday (15 July) killed seven servicemen and wounded 13 others.
Pakistan has allowed a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) aid convoy to enter Afghanistan through the Torkham border crossing, granting a rare humanitarian exemption despite months of restrictions on cross-border movement amid heightened security tensions with Afghanistan.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday that its Navy had struck U.S. military barracks, a satellite communications centre and a Patriot missile battery in Bahrain, while its Aerospace Force targeted an airbase in Jordan.
A United Nations official has accused Hamas of interfering with humanitarian aid distribution in the Gaza Strip, adding further pressure on civilians already facing severe shortages and worsening living conditions.
The United States carried out a third consecutive night of airstrikes against Iran, targeting military capabilities around the Strait of Hormuz as Donald Trump announced the reinstatement of a blockade on Iranian shipping and proposed a 20% fee on cargo passing through the strategic waterway.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian ports and warned that power plants and bridges could be targeted next week unless Tehran returns to negotiations.
The death toll from the fire at a live music pub in Bangkok has climbed to 32 after two more victims died from their injuries, according to Thailand's Police Hospital.
Ukraine and Russia exchanged fresh attacks on Tuesday, with Kyiv targeting shipping and energy infrastructure inside Russia while Moscow launched another large-scale missile and drone assault on Ukrainian cities.
IBM has warned that a surge in spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure is weighing on its core business, in one of the clearest signs yet of how the AI boom is reshaping the technology sector.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian ports and warned that power plants and bridges could be targeted next week unless Tehran returns to negotiations.
Ten EU countries, led by Italy and Poland, have urged the European Union to reconsider a new carbon price on fuel as part of a wider overhaul of the bloc's carbon market, according to a joint statement seen by Reuters.
The European Union (EU) has announced an additional €20 million ($22.8 million) in humanitarian assistance for Venezuela after last month's deadly earthquakes, which killed more than 4,700 people.
India's investigation into last year's Air India crash that killed 260 people has entered its final stages, with investigators completing a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder and carrying out a psychological autopsy as they work towards a final report.
The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is spreading faster than efforts to contain it, global humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned, calling for an urgent expansion of containment and care measures.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment