A report by Cadre Harmonis, an initiative conducted bi-annually (in March and October) across 26 states and the FCT focused on food and nutrition analysis, says no fewer than 33.1 million Nigerians will face acute food insecurity in 2025.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation, (FAO), which disclosed this in a statement yesterday, said the report was prepared by the federal government and supported by partners, such as the World Food Programme, (WFP), and the United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund, UNICEF, among others.
“The statement read: The food and nutrition insecurity analysis, Cadre Harmonis, led by the government of Nigeria and supported by partners, alerts on the deterioration of food security in Nigeria, with 133.1 million people expected to face high levels of food insecurity in the next lean season (June-August).
“It is an alarming seven million people increase from the same period last year, driven by economic hardship, coupled with record high inflation, impacts of climate change and persistent violence in the north-eastern States.
“Nationally, the number of people experiencing emergency levels (Phase-4) of food insecurity is projected to increase. While no populations have been classified as catastrophe (Phase-5), populations experiencing emergency (Phase-4) are anticipated to increase from 1 million people in the peak of the 2024 lean season to 1.8 million people at the same period in 2025, representing an 80% increase.
“Approximately 5.4 million children and nearly 800,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are at risk of acute malnutrition or wasting from six of the most affected states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe in the northeast, as well as Sokoto, Katsina and Zamfara in the North-West. Of these, an alarming 1.8 million children could face severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and require critical nutrition treatment.
Drivers of food security in Nigeria grapple with several factors that continue to exacerbate
the food insecurity situation, namely economic hardship, coupled with record high inflation (which reached 40.9 per cent for food, and 34.2 per cent for all items in June 2024).
Speaking at the presentation of the report, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Temitope Fashedemi, who was represented by the Director of Nutrition and Food Security, Dr. Nuhu Kilishi Mohammed, underscored the significance of the Cadre Harmonis during the presentation, which recommended that the results be adopted for planning and implementation of food and nutrition security interventions across federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, (MDAs), 26 Cadre Harmonise States, the humanitarian community and other partners in Nigeria.
On his part, FAO Representative ad interim in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Dominique Koffy Kouacou, expressed FAOs continued commitment to supporting Nigeria.
Highlighting the longstanding issue, the Country Director, World Food Programme, WFP, David Stevenson, said: The hunger crisis in Nigeria, fuelled by the on-going conflict in the north(east, needs urgent addressing. Restoring peace in the north-east is critical for us to build pathways to production and achieve the northeasts potential as the food basket of the country, he emphasised.
UNICEFs Country Representative, Ms. Cristian Munduate, emphasized the urgent need for action. saying: Children are at the center of the food insecurity crisis and face irreversible consequences, both physical and cognitive, and potentially even death.
Consequently, the United Nations urged the Federal Government, donors and stakeholders to commit resources and implement measures to avert a potential food and nutrition disaster, emphasising the need for immediate multi-sectoral support across the nation.
