Nigeria is among ten countries where conflict is driving the worst global food crises, accounting for two-thirds of the 266 million people who faced acute food insecurity in 2025, according to the 2026 Global Report on Food Crises. The report, released by a coalition including UN agencies and the European Union, found that nearly a quarter of the population analysed across 47 nations experienced high levels of hunger, almost double the proportion from 2016. Conflict remains the leading cause, responsible for over half of severe hunger cases, with Nigeria listed alongside Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Yemen and others. In January, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria stated that 35 million Nigerians are at risk of acute hunger this year. At the most severe level, famine was confirmed in parts of Sudan and Gaza in 2025, marking the first time two separate famines were recorded in a single year since the report began. More than 39 million people across 32 countries faced emergency-level food insecurity, while those experiencing catastrophic hunger rose ninefold since 2016. Children are disproportionately affected, with 35.5 million acutely malnourished in 2025, including close to 10 million with severe acute malnutrition. UNICEF's Ricardo Pires noted that children with severe wasting have weakened immune systems, making common illnesses potentially fatal. Forced displacement, affecting over 85 million people in food-crisis regions, worsens the situation, creating a cycle with food insecurity. Despite the growing crisis, humanitarian and development funding for food and nutrition has dropped to levels seen nearly ten years ago.
Nigeria is named in a list of ten countries where conflict fuels extreme hunger, yet the government has not declared a national emergency despite 35 million citizens being at risk of acute hunger. The report confirms famine in Sudan and Gaza, and Nigeria shares the same conflict-driven crisis conditions without equivalent public action. With funding falling and displacement rising, millions of Nigerian children face malnutrition in silence. The data exists, the pattern is clear, but the response remains invisible.
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