By Paul Joseph
Nigeria has been listed among the world’s most critical hunger hotspots, with the United Nations warning that parts of Borno State could face catastrophic levels of hunger in the coming months if urgent intervention is not provided.
The warning is contained in the latest Hunger Hotspots Report jointly released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), which identified Nigeria and 12 other countries and territories where food insecurity is expected to worsen between June and November 2026.
According to the report on Thursday, North-East Nigeria has now joined Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Palestine and Somalia in the highest-risk category due to escalating concerns over famine.
“Nigeria has entered the highest-risk category after forecasts showed parts of Borno could face catastrophic hunger,” the report stated.
The UN agencies attributed the worsening food crisis to a combination of armed conflict, economic pressures, climate-related shocks and declining humanitarian funding.
Acting Executive Director of the WFP, Carl Skau, said conflict remains the primary driver of hunger, affecting 12 of the 13 identified hotspots.
“Conflict, shocks and disasters are forcing families to make impossible decisions about who gets to eat and who goes to bed hungry,” Skau said.
The report also revealed that support for food assistance, emergency agriculture programmes and nutrition interventions in crisis-affected countries fell by an estimated 59 per cent between 2022 and 2025, marking the steepest decline in humanitarian funding in a decade.
As a result, approximately 266 million people across the identified hotspots are currently experiencing severe food insecurity.
FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol stressed the need for urgent and coordinated action to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
“The challenge is whether we act early enough and at the necessary scale,” she said.
The FAO noted that emergency agricultural support remains one of the most effective ways to help vulnerable households continue producing food while reducing dependence on humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, Jean-Martin Bauer, Director of the WFP’s Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Service, warned that worsening economic conditions and climate change are intensifying food insecurity across affected regions.
“Economic shocks are compounding food insecurity, and climate change and climate variability are also further intensifying the situation,” Bauer said.
The report urged governments, humanitarian organisations and international partners to scale up support urgently to avert famine and protect millions of lives in the world’s most vulnerable regions.
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