Hunger crisis looms in Sahel as WFP faces funding shortfall

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday that it may be forced to halt food assistance for two million people across the Central Sahel and Nigeria next month due to a funding crisis, according to a report in UN News. The situation is set to worsen with the early onset of the lean season, intensifying hunger driven by conflict, displacement, economic instability, and climate shocks.

WFP urgently requires $620 million over the next six months to continue supporting crisis-affected populations, including internally displaced persons in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria, as well as Sudanese and Malian refugees in Chad and Mauritania. Without emergency funding, food insecurity could reach catastrophic levels, with 52.7 million people projected to face acute hunger by mid-2025.

“Inaction will have severe consequences for the region and beyond, as food security is national security,” warned Margot van der Velden, WFP’s Regional Director for Western Africa.