Nigeria joins world’s most critical hunger hotspots as 34.8m face acute food crisis — FAO

Nigeria and Somalia have been added to the United Nations’ list of highest-concern global hunger hotspots, joining conflict-torn nations like Sudan and South Sudan as acute food insecurity threatens to deteriorate to catastrophic levels across Africa.

A joint report released Tuesday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warns that millions of people across 13 “hunger hotspots” are expected to face worsening starvation between June and November 2026. The crisis is compounded by armed conflict, economic shocks, and an impending El Niño weather event, alongside a devastating 59% drop in global humanitarian funding between 2022 and 2025.

In Nigeria, the situation is particularly acute in the country’s northeast. Projections indicate that populations in Borno State may face “Catastrophe” levels of acute food insecurity—defined by the UN as an extreme lack of basic needs where starvation, death, destitution, and critical acute malnutrition are evident.

Approximately 2.3 million people remain internally displaced across the North East, compounding the scale of the humanitarian challenge.

“We already know where the next hunger emergencies will occur,” said FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol. “The challenge is whether we act early enough and at the necessary scale. When farmers cannot plant, herders lose their animals and markets are disrupted, food insecurity deepens quickly. Early investment in emergency agricultural assistance and resilience is one of the most cost-effective ways to protect livelihoods, sustain local food production and reduce future humanitarian needs.”

A Continental Crisis

The implications stretch heavily across the African continent, which hosts the majority of the world’s most critical hunger zones.

In Sudan, a risk of famine has been identified in 14 areas across North Darfur, South Darfur, and South Kordofan, with 19.5 million people—41% of the population—facing high levels of acute food insecurity. In South Sudan, 7.8 million people, or 55% of its population, are projected to face crisis levels of hunger, with four counties at immediate risk of famine. Meanwhile, Somalia has joined Nigeria in the highest-concern tier, with populations in the Bay region facing a looming risk of famine.

The UN agencies noted that the escalating hunger crisis is clashing with an unprecedented retreat in international aid. Global funding for food assistance, emergency agriculture, and nutrition has plummeted back to levels last seen nearly a decade ago, even as the number of people facing acute food insecurity in these hotspots has ballooned to 266 million.

“The warnings in this report cannot be ignored,” said WFP Acting Executive Director Carl Skau. “Conflict, shocks, and disasters are forcing families to make impossible decisions about who gets to eat and who goes to bed hungry. Without action now, millions more are expected to face worsening levels of hunger in the months ahead, pushing some closer to famine. Our teams are ready to respond at speed and scale. We need resources to deliver food and access to reach people before hunger turns into catastrophe.”