UN warns of 10-year worst hunger crisis in Nigeria after massive aid cuts

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has on Friday warned of the worst hunger crisis for the first time in a decade in Nigeria’s conflict-ridden northeast as massive aid cuts hit the region.

According to the agency, nearly 15,000 people are at the risk of acute malnutrition in Borno state, an area already grappling with years of militant unrest.

On the whole, around 55 million people are facing severe food shortages across West and Central Africa. More than three quarters of the affected people belong to Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger.

As reported by WFP, more than 13 million children in the region are highly vulnerable to malnutrition this year.

Although years of conflict, economic slump, and displacement have been responsible for driving food insecurity, massive cuts to humanitarian assistance have now pushed the vulnerable communities to the brink.

The aid cuts came when the Trump administration started reducing assistance as a part of American First policy. Besides America, the UK and other nations stepped up aid cutting to boost defence spending.

“The reduced funding we saw in 2025 has deepened hunger and malnutrition across the region,” Sarah Longford, WFP’s deputy regional director for West and Central Africa, said.

As the result of funding shortages, WFP scaled back its nutrition programmes in Nigeria, affecting more than 0.3 million children.

If not provided enough, the agency further warned that around 35 million people could go hungry in December.

Therefore, it needed more than $453 million over the next 6 months to continue delivering humanitarian assistance.