The United Nations World Food Programme has announced the closure of over 150 nutrition clinics in Borno and Yobe states due to severe funding shortages, a move expected to jeopardize the health and survival of more than 300,000 children under the age of two.
In a statement published on its website, the humanitarian agency revealed that its nutrition and food stockpiles in Nigeria have been completely depleted, and its last batch of supplies was dispatched in early July.
As a result, life-saving interventions in the region will end after the current round of distributions.
“WFP’s food and nutrition stocks have been completely exhausted,” the agency said. “Without immediate funding, millions of vulnerable people will face impossible choices: endure increasingly severe hunger, migrate, or possibly risk exploitation by extremist groups in the region.”
The WFP Country Director for Nigeria, David Stevenson, painted a dire picture of the growing crisis, warning that the situation now transcends a humanitarian emergency.
“Nearly 31 million people in Nigeria are now facing acute hunger — a record number,” Stevenson said.
“At the same time, WFP’s operations in northeast Nigeria will collapse without immediate, sustained funding. This is no longer just a humanitarian crisis; it’s a growing threat to regional stability.”
The organisation emphasized that the closure of clinics in Borno and Yobe would halt treatment for thousands of children suffering from wasting, the most severe form of malnutrition.
It also warned of potential long-term consequences, including increased displacement and susceptibility to recruitment by insurgent groups as people seek survival alternatives.
“When emergency assistance ends, many will migrate in search of food and shelter. Others will adopt negative coping mechanisms – including potentially joining insurgent groups – to survive,” Stevenson warned.
“Food assistance can often prevent these outcomes. It allows us to feed families, help rebuild economies and support long-term recovery.”
Between January and June 2025, WFP said it had reached 1.3 million people across northern Nigeria with food and nutrition aid. Plans were underway to expand that support to another 720,000 in the second half of the year before the financial shortfall struck.
Now, WFP is urgently appealing for $130 million in funding to sustain operations through the end of 2025.
“WFP has the capacity and expertise to deliver and scale up its humanitarian response, but the critical funding gap is paralysing operations,” the agency stated.
The crisis comes at a time when the region continues to grapple with escalating violence and displacement.
According to WFP, over 2.3 million people in the Lake Chad Basin have fled their homes due to insecurity, adding pressure to limited local resources.