from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – EIGHT more million people in Nigeria are to be food insecure in 2025 than this year as the country battles record inflation, climate shocks and ongoing conflicts.
According to an envoy, the problems are projected to push the number to 33 million, a sharp increase from the 25 million who need assistance today.
“Never before have there been so many people in Nigeria without food,” said Chi Lael, World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson for Nigeria.
Lael was speaking on behalf of the three United Nations (UN) agencies most involved in food security and nutrition in Nigeria.
These are the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and WFP.
“We know too that NGO colleagues in the NGO Forum for Nigeria and development partners stand by the main points in this statement,” said Lael.
The food security and nutrition reports show that Nigeria faces a monumental hunger crisis in the second half of 2025, particularly in the terror-prone northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, where 5 million people are facing acute food insecurity.
Risks are also emerging in Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara states.
There are 5,4 million children and 800 000 pregnant and breastfeeding women at risk of acute malnutrition or wasting. Of these children, 1,8 could face Severe Acute Malnutrition.
The UN agencies are calling for international partners, Nigerian civil society, private sector and government at state and federal levels to work together to avert the risk of famine.
“Rarely has it been truer to say that urgent investments in food security will save lives,” Lael said.
– CAJ News