With over 220 million people, Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and the sixth in the world. It is the tenth-largest producer of crude oil in the world and achieved lower-middle-income status in 2014. However, around 84 million Nigerians, representing about 37 percent of the total population, live below the poverty line.
Conflict and insecurity, rising inflation and the impact of the climate crisis continue to drive hunger in Nigeria – with 26.5 million people across the country projected to face acute hunger in the June-August 2024 lean season. This is a staggering increase from the 18.6 million people food insecure at the end of 2023.
Conflict in the North East region has displaced 2.2 million people and left another 4.4 million food insecure in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. Three million of them are in Borno State, the epicentre of insurgency. Nigeria is subject to periodic droughts and floods. This has had an adverse impact on agricultural output and increased the vulnerability of populations, especially in rural areas.
Insurgent activities have added pressure to a fragile resource environment, deepened insecurity, hampered development, and heightened the food and nutrition insecurity of vulnerable women and children.
The World Food Programe is prioritizing its operations to reach 1.1 million vulnerable people every month in northern Nigeria. Those receiving assistance include displaced people living in camps or host communities, as well as vulnerable members of host communities and people returning home after months of displacement.
