As the climate crisis intensifies, impoverished communities in Central and West Africa are facing a dire humanitarian situation. The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that some 55 million people in the region are set to endure “crisis” level hunger this year, with four countries – Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger – accounting for 77% of this food insecurity.
Conflict, particularly the ongoing insurgency by the Islamist group Boko Haram, is a key driver of the crisis. However, the escalating impacts of climate change, including recurrent extreme weather events such as floods and droughts, are also devastating the agricultural activities that employ around 60% of the workforce in the region.
In 2025, for example, torrential rains and severe flooding affected more than 841,000 people across Central and West Africa, with Nigeria and Niger among the hardest hit. This has left the humanitarian sector largely helpless in the face of these escalating challenges, as cuts to overseas aid from wealthy nations have severely constrained the resources available.
Last year, the WFP only received 41% of the $2 billion (£1.48 billion) it required to meet needs in the region. The agency now urgently needs $453 million (£335 million) over the next six months to continue providing life-saving assistance.
“Now is not the time to stop food assistance,” said David Stevenson, the WFP’s Nigeria Country Director. “This will lead to catastrophic humanitarian, security and economic consequences for the most vulnerable people who have been forced to flee their homes in search of food and shelter.”
Nigeria, the most populous country in the region, is at the epicentre of the crisis, with some 35 million people projected to experience acute and severe food insecurity during the 2026 lean season. The WFP has warned that, without urgent funding, it will only be able to reach 72,000 people in the country in February, a significant reduction from the 1.3 million assisted during the 2025 lean season.
The situation is particularly dire in Borno State, the heart of the conflict with Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria, where 150 clinics treating malnutrition were closed in July 2025, leaving 300,000 children at risk of severe malnutrition.
The pressure on WFP services is not limited to Nigeria, however, with the agency also planning to reduce the number of people it assists in neighbouring Cameroon by around 60% this year. More broadly, the WFP is expecting to only reach around half of the 110 million food-insecure people it had originally planned to reach in 2026 due to aid cuts from wealthy nations.