The United Nations has sounded an alarm over the intensifying food insecurity crisis in the northeastern region of Nigeria, which is struggling with the severe effects of a continuous insurgency. The UN’s resident coordinator has highlighted that the humanitarian agency is encountering significant obstacles in obtaining the necessary funds to combat the acute food shortages, which pose a risk of causing widespread hunger and life-threatening outcomes.
In April, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in partnership with Nigeria, initiated a $306 million fundraising campaign to support 2.8 million individuals in the states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe.
These areas have been heavily impacted by a 15-year Islamist insurgency, and the funds are particularly aimed at the lean season, which is known for the peak of food scarcity.
Mohamed Malick Fall, head of OCHA, told Reuters that despite Nigeria’s initial commitment of $11 million and another $11 million from the UN’s central pool, reaching the target was challenging due to hesitancy among international donors.
“We are far from where we want to be. That is something we are confronted by even beyond the lean season which is that we have noticed that humanitarian assistance to Nigeria is shrinking.
In the best-case scenario, Fall expects to receive just $300 million, a sharp decrease from the $500 million obtained last year, citing the economic effects of COVID-19 on major donors as the primary cause for the decline.
“Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan have all emerged in the past two years which makes it difficult to maintain the same pace of funding,” Fall said.
The situation is exacerbated by Nigeria’s most severe cost-of-living crisis in decades, with inflation exceeding 33% and food prices increasing by more than 40%. Without immediate intervention, the consequences of food insecurity in Nigeria’s northeast could be catastrophic.
UNICEF data from April shows that over 120,000 children have been admitted for treatment of severe acute malnutrition in the region, exceeding the annual target of approximately 90,000.
“The cost of inaction has many folds with the most pressing being an excess mortality among children,” Fall said.
