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No fewer than one million people in northeast Nigeria could lose emergency food and nutrition assistance unless funding is secured “within weeks.”
According to a press release on the World Food Programme’s website on Thursday, Nigeria is facing one of the worst hunger crises in recent times.
WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build pathways to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
“The United Nations World Food Programme is sounding the alarm as more than one million people in northeast Nigeria risk being cut off from emergency food and nutrition assistance within weeks unless urgent new funding is received.
“Violence is surging across the north, and WFP is being forced to slash food assistance from 1.3 million people down to only 72,000 people,” the statement read.
“If WFP cannot continue supporting the displaced populations in camps, they will leave the sites in a desperate attempt to survive.
“They will try to migrate, or they may join insurgent groups to feed themselves and their families,” WFP’s Nigeria Country Director, David Stevenson, said.
The WFP said nearly 35 million people are projected to face acute and severe food insecurity during the lean season.
They include roughly 15,000 people in Borno who risk falling into catastrophic hunger, a step away from famine.
“The crisis is unfolding amid renewed violence in the north, which has devastated rural communities, displaced families and destroyed food reserves.
“Now is not the time to stop food assistance.
“This will lead to catastrophic humanitarian, security and economic consequences for the most vulnerable people who have been forced to flee their homes in search of food and shelter.
“Humanitarian solutions are still possible and are one of the last stabilising forces preventing mass displacement and regional spillover,” Stevenson said.
The WFP said these are the worst levels of hunger recorded in a decade.
It added that it is urgently seeking 129 million dollars to sustain its operations in the northeast over the next six months.
The global food agency warned that its operations could shut down unless the funds are received.
