Aid organisations, including the World Food Programme (WFP), have sounded the alarm over a deepening hunger crisis in Nigeria, warning that hundreds of thousands of children could die as funding dries up.
The situation is particularly dire in northern Nigeria, where millions have fled violence by terrorist groups. According to the WFP, 600,000 children are at risk of dying.
“There are millions of people who need our help,” said Ancel Kats of the WFP in Nigeria. “But the funding isn’t forthcoming.”
Until early this year, the United States provided more than half of Nigeria’s humanitarian assistance. However, a few weeks after his inauguration, President Donald Trump announced the dismantling of USAID, triggering a sharp decline in foreign aid. Several other Western nations have since followed suit by cutting their development budgets.
The WFP has already closed more than 150 malnutrition clinics across Nigeria and is now short more than $115 million to sustain its operations. In Bama, Borno State, food distribution programs are being scaled back, with aid now limited to only the most vulnerable.
“They all depend on WFP to distribute this food for them to eat,” said Soumbami Tukunabo, an aid worker for the Italian organisation InterSOS. “It would be very bad to tell them that due to global funding cuts there is going to be a reduction in caseload.”
Beyond food aid, Nigeria has also lost about $600 million in health funding, nearly one-fifth of its total health budget, since the withdrawal of U.S. support. Aid groups warn the combined impact could push millions deeper into hunger and hardship unless urgent international funding is restored.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
About the Author
