Funding Crisis Forces WFP to Suspend Aid for 1.3 Million in Nigeria

The United Nations food agency is halting aid for 1.3 million people in Nigeria's northeast due to depleted stocks, linked to U.S. cuts. This could force vulnerable individuals to migrate or join insurgent groups, exacerbating regional instability. The agency needs $131 million to resume operations.

The United Nations food agency is set to halt food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million individuals in Nigeria's insurgency-stricken northeast, citing exhausted stocks. This decision, effective at the end of July, underscores the dwindling resources exacerbated by the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development under President Donald Trump.

The World Food Programme (WFP) expressed concern over depleted stocks in Nigeria, as its warehouses saw their last dispatch in early July. The shortfall follows significant funding cuts, with the agency having drawn 45% of its previous aid for the region from USAID. WFP officials warn that, without immediate funding, operations risk total collapse, forcing vulnerable populations towards migration or even insurgent recruitment in search of basic necessities.

This crisis, described by WFP Nigeria's country director David Stevenson as a potential threat to regional stability, has also led to closures of nutrition clinics in Borno and Yobe states. These closures end critical treatments for over 300,000 children under two years. With over 2 million people already displaced by violence in Nigeria's northeast, WFP calls for $131 million to sustain their essential programs.