A NEW report from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has identified Nigeria, alongside seven other African nations, as facing acute food insecurity driven primarily by conflict and climate shocks.
The countries highlighted are Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria, and Ethiopia.
The WFP stated that these nations are grappling with a devastating combination of “conflict, droughts, floods and desertification.”
The agency explained that these twin crises are playing a central role in destabilising food systems. Armed conflicts, such as those in Sudan, Ukraine, and Gaza, disrupt food production, supply chains, and access to markets, while also displacing millions of people.
Simultaneously, increasing climate variability—including droughts, floods, and heat waves—is severely undermining agricultural productivity and food availability, particularly in vulnerable regions.
This acute hunger crisis unfolds against a backdrop of broader global challenges. The WFP reports that about 673 million people, or around eight per cent of the global population, are not getting enough to eat.
This problem is exacerbated by export restrictions, tariffs, and volatile commodity prices that destabilise food markets, making nourishment less affordable and accessible.
Further compounding the issue are global economic pressures. “Global and regional economic downturns, rising food and energy prices and inflation have combined to reduce purchasing power and access to nutritious food, particularly in low-income countries,” the WFP said.
Events like the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and ongoing climate shocks contributed to significant food price surges between 2020 and 2024, causing real wages to fall and forcing many to eat fewer meals per day.
The report also underscores that deep-rooted poverty and social inequality perpetuate chronic hunger by limiting access to food and resources. This is especially true in rural and marginalised communities, where low incomes, poor infrastructure, and inadequate local services mean that vulnerable groups, particularly women and indigenous people, are disproportionately affected.
The WFP’s analysis, released ahead of the 2025 World Food Day commemorated every October 16, highlights the urgent need for targeted intervention.
It notes that out of the nearly 700 million people living in extreme poverty globally, two-thirds reside in Sub-Saharan Africa, underscoring the region’s acute vulnerability to these interconnected drivers of hunger.
