By: TPA News Desk | African News | www.thepointafricanews.com/africa

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it will suspend food and nutrition assistance for 1.3 million people in northeastern Nigeria—primarily in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states—by the end of July due to dire funding shortages and exhausted stocks, according to statements obtained from the agency.

The affected population includes internally displaced persons, vulnerable host communities, and children suffering from or at risk of acute malnutrition. WFP officials warn that the pause will extend until new emergency funds are secured.

WFP’s Regional Director for Western Africa, Margot van der Velden, has called the situation “a humanitarian cliff edge,” underscoring the urgent need for at least $494 million to sustain operations across West and Central Africa through the end of 2025.

Nigeria has seen soaring food prices, severe displacement driven by insurgency, and repeated climate shocks—particularly floods—that have devastated agricultural production. As of mid‑2025, over 4.4 million people in the northeastern states were already classified as food insecure, with 2.2 million displaced by conflict.

In 2024, catastrophic flooding destroyed more than 1.5 million hectares of farmland in 29 states, pushing the country deeper into hunger as millions fled homes and crop losses mounted.

Since the beginning of the year, funding from major donors—including the United States—has sharply declined. US aid reductions have forced WFP to retract contracts and halt large portions of food deliveries across Nigeria and the Sahel.

Problems are especially acute among children: according to UNICEF, up to 80,000 children under five in Nigeria risk losing access to lifesaving therapeutic food supplies as early as July due to funding depletion. UNICEF officials say nearly 1.3 million severely malnourished children in Nigeria and Ethiopia could lose essential support within months.