Urgent Action Needed: WFP Faces Funding Shortfall Amid Looming Food Crisis in Central Sahel and Nigeria

“The global reduction in foreign aid is severely impacting our ability to operate, particularly in Central Sahel and Nigeria,” said Margot van der Velden, WFP’s Regional Director for Western Africa.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a dire warning that life-saving food and nutrition assistance in Central Sahel and Nigeria will cease in April 2025 without immediate financial support. The funding crisis coincides with an anticipated early arrival of the lean season, the period between harvests when hunger levels peak. Millions of vulnerable people, including refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), rely on WFP’s food assistance for survival.

Unless urgent funding materializes, WFP will be forced to suspend aid for 2 million crisis-affected individuals, including Sudanese refugees in Chad, Malian refugees in Mauritania, IDPs, and food-insecure families in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. The organization urgently requires US$620 million to sustain its operations across the Sahel and Nigeria over the next six months.

“The global reduction in foreign aid is severely impacting our ability to operate, particularly in Central Sahel and Nigeria,” said Margot van der Velden, WFP’s Regional Director for Western Africa. “With millions bracing for emergency levels of hunger at the height of the lean season, the world must act now to prevent a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe. Inaction will have devastating consequences for the region and beyond, as food security is national security.”

A Growing Food Crisis in West Africa

The December 2024 Cadre Harmonisé regional food security analysis paints a grim picture: West Africa is grappling with an acute food and nutrition crisis, with an estimated 52.7 million people projected to experience acute hunger between June and August 2025. Among them, 3.4 million individuals in the Sahel are classified as facing emergency food insecurity (IPC-Phase 4), while 2,600 people in northern Mali are at risk of catastrophic hunger (IPC-Phase 5).

Conflict, displacement, economic instability, and severe climate shocks have fueled this crisis. Devastating floods in 2024 affected over six million people, further exacerbating food insecurity. Despite growing needs, funding for West and Central Africa remains critically low. This shortage forces WFP to reduce food rations, leaving many without the assistance they desperately need.

Chad and Nigeria: Epicenters of the Crisis

In Chad, the mass arrival of Sudanese refugees is straining already scarce resources, intensifying tensions between host and displaced communities. With Chad entering its sixth consecutive year of severe food insecurity in 2025, an estimated 4.2 million people will struggle to access food during the lean season—a staggering 200% increase since 2020.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s protracted humanitarian crisis, compounded by high inflation and extreme weather events, is putting millions at risk. Between June and August 2025, 33.1 million Nigerians will face severe food shortages. Northeast Nigeria, in particular, is experiencing a sharp deterioration, with 4.8 million people in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states projected to endure acute hunger—an alarming rise from 4.3 million in 2023.

Urgent Call for Global Support

WFP is collaborating with national governments to refine its response strategy, ensuring that aid reaches the most vulnerable populations. However, without timely and flexible donor support, coupled with secure and unhindered access to affected communities, the organization’s efforts will be severely hampered.

“The West and Central Africa region has long suffered from a lack of international funding and attention,” van der Velden emphasized. “A paradigm shift is necessary to reverse the escalating hunger crisis and protect millions of vulnerable women, men, and children.”

As the lean season looms, WFP urges global donors to step up their commitments to avert an impending humanitarian disaster.