Nigeria’s worsening food insecurity

A new joint report by the United Nations (UN) Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) has revealed that Nigeria and 15 other African countries listed in global hunger hotspots will face worsening acute food insecurity, which will put millions of people at risk of famine between November 2025 and May 2026. The “Hunger Hotspots 2025” report by the UN’s FAO and WFP identifies six countries/territories of “highest concern” for acute food insecurity. They are Sudan, Palestine (Gaza Strip and West Bank, South Sudan, Yemen, Mali and Haiti.

Six other countries listed by the UN food agencies with “very high concern” include Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia and Syria. The other four additional hotspots include Burkina Faso, Chad, Kenya, Rohingya and Bangladesh. The primary drivers of acute food insecurity in these countries, the report says, are armed conflict, economic collapse, climate extremes and a decline in humanitarian funding. It further says that these factors converge to make these countries risk mass starvation between November 2025 and May 2026.

The Hunger Hotspots report, which covers the period from November 2025 through May 2026, finds that in 14 of the 16 hotspots identified, conflict and violence are primary drivers of hunger. Funding gap is also a serious challenge in these countries. For instance, as of the end of October 2025, only $10.5 billion out of the $29 billion required to assist people most at risk had been received. “Severe shortfalls are crippling emergency responses, forcing deep ration cuts and reducing access to food for the most vulnerable groups with refugee food assistance at a breaking point,” the report stated.

The two UN agencies also warn that famine is almost always predictable and preventable. Therefore, they call on the international community to urgently refocus global attention on famine prevention and scale up investments in long-term food security and resilience. “We must move from reacting to crises, to preventing them. Investing in livelihoods, resilience and social protection before hunger peaks will save lives and resources. Famine prevention is not just a moral duty—it is a smart investment in long-term peace and stability. Peace is a requisite for food security and the right to food is a basic human right,” says FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.

Similarly, WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said, “we are on the brink of a completely preventable hunger catastrophe that threatens widespread starvation in multiple countries.”

“Mothers are skipping meals so their children can eat, and families are exhausting what little they have left as they struggle to survive. We urgently need new funding and unimpeded access—a failure to act now will only drive further instability, migration, and conflict,” McCain stated.

The UN hunger hotspot report is alarming. It is also a wake-up call on the leaders of Nigeria and other affected countries to evolve measures to avert the looming famine and starvation. For Nigerian leaders, it is a call for action to enhance our capacity to boost food production and food security. It is also a call to tame the rising insecurity across the country. Therefore, the federal and state governments must take concrete steps to shore up food production through mechanized agriculture. With massive irrigation across the country, farmers can be empowered to practice all seasons and mechanized farming.

With enough arable land, one of the highest on the continent, Nigeria should have no pact with hunger and famine as predicted by the UN agencies. The 36 state governors should be committed to food production through mechanized agriculture. They must begin to prioritise agriculture and food production. Fortunately, every state has agricultural produce it has comparative advantage in. However, the growing insecurity across the country is a major threat to agriculture and food production. We must stop paying lip service to agriculture and agribusiness. Without food security, Nigeria will not achieve the much-needed socio-economic development. No country develops when it cannot feed its citizens. The federal government should begin to treat the right to food as a human right. Let the government ensure that all Nigerians have access to adequate food and nutrition.

The terrorists’ attacks in the North-East region, the farmers/herders conflicts in the North-Central region and banditry in the North-West region and insecurity in the South-East region and others are threats to the nation’s food security. Without quickly addressing the rising security challenges across the six geo-political zones in the country, Nigeria’s worsening acute food insecurity will further escalate.

The rising nationwide insecurity, which has led to closure of many schools in the North, is a present danger that must be tackled headlong by the government. Allowing it to fester will endanger peace, which is necessary for food production. There is need for a national dialogue on insecurity and the state of the nation. We say this bearing in mind that without security, there is nothing the government can achieve.