The World Food Programme says it needs $89 million over the next six months to continue providing food and nutrition assistance, alongside essential logistics support, across northern Nigeria.

The appeal comes as more than 17 million people in conflict-affected states in northern Nigeria face acute hunger, with escalating insecurity, mass displacement, and funding shortfalls worsening the country’s food crisis.

The United Nations agency disclosed this in a statement published on its website on Thursday, warning that the food security situation is deteriorating faster than previously projected.

WFP said the latest Cadre Harmonisé food security analysis shows that conflict is driving hunger in parts of northern Nigeria, particularly the northeast, to levels not seen in almost a decade, while humanitarian agencies are struggling to reach millions of vulnerable people.

The WFP said its latest assessment revealed a significant worsening of food security across nine conflict-affected states in northern Nigeria.

“The recently completed Cadre Harmonisé analysis shows that more than 17 million people across nine conflict-affected states in northern Nigeria are experiencing crisis, emergency, or catastrophic levels of hunger. This is an increase of almost two million since the last projections.

“What concerns us most is how this crisis is expanding. For years, insurgent attacks and violence were largely concentrated in parts of northeast Nigeria. Today, they are spreading across a much wider area and forcing people from farmland, driving displacement and restricting humanitarian access, meaning hunger is quick to follow,” said Kinday Samba, WFP Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

“When people lose access to food, the risks of displacement, exploitation and instability increase. Yet resources are at their lowest at the time they are needed most,” Samba added.

The WFP warned that without immediate funding, the humanitarian crisis in northern Nigeria could worsen significantly, leading to higher levels of hunger, displacement, and insecurity.

The UN agency said Borno State remains the epicentre of the crisis, as escalating insurgent attacks and reduced humanitarian assistance continue to deepen food insecurity.

According to the WFP, more than three million people in the state are acutely food insecure, including over 750,000 facing severe hunger and more than 10,000 experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger.

The agency also reported that the number of inaccessible locations has doubled, with 15 additional areas now classified as partially inaccessible due to insecurity, attacks on humanitarian supply routes, and the proliferation of illegal checkpoints.

While an estimated 6.2 million people across the three northeastern states require food assistance, the WFP said it currently has sufficient resources to support only about 740,000 people, a sharp decline from the 1.3 million beneficiaries it reached during the peak of the 2025 lean season.