The United States government has approved $32.5 million (about ₦53 billion) in humanitarian assistance to Nigeria to combat the worsening hunger crisis across the country.
The aid, announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Mission in Nigeria, is expected to provide food and nutrition support to over 764,000 vulnerable people, mostly internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North-East and communities affected by banditry in the North-West.
According to the statement, the funding will cover emergency food supplies and nutrition top-ups for at least 41,569 pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as 43,235 children, through electronic food vouchers.
The intervention comes at a time when northern Nigeria is facing what international aid groups have described as “an unprecedented hunger crisis.”
In July, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that over 1.3 million people risked starvation, while more than 150 nutrition clinics in Borno State alone faced possible closure due to funding cuts.
Earlier this year, the WFP suspended food distribution across several West and Central African countries after massive aid cuts from the U.S. and other international donors threatened its operations. Food stocks were projected to run out around September, leaving millions of people in dire need.
The U.S. Mission explained that its latest assistance was designed to cushion the impact of the crisis on vulnerable families trapped by insecurity and climate shocks.
Nigeria continues to grapple with multiple humanitarian emergencies, including the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East which has claimed over 35,000 lives and displaced more than two million people, according to United Nations estimates.
In addition, deadly attacks on farming communities in the North-West and North-Central have worsened food shortages and heightened malnutrition.
Only in June, at least 150 villagers were killed in a single attack in north-central Nigeria, underscoring the scale of insecurity affecting food production and access.
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