By Emmanuel Ogbodo
Reports published by Cadre Harmonisé indicates that about 33.1 million people, including over 514,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos, and other states will likely face a food crisis or worse from June to August 2025. The states most affected will include Sokoto, Zamfara, Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, Taraba, Katsina, Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Plateau, Kaduna, Kebbi, Niger, and Benue. Other impacted states include Cross River, Enugu, Edo, Abia, Kogi, Nasarawa, Kwara, Ogun, and Rivers.
The report, produced by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security with support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), also highlights that 25 million people, including over 422,000 IDPs, are already in a state of food crisis as of late 2024.
Regionally, food insecurity is expected to worsen, with Adamawa projected to have 1.3 million people facing a food crisis, 2 million in Borno, and around 1.6 million people in critical need by mid-2025.
The report also forecasts severe malnutrition in the Northeast and Northwest, estimating that from May 2024 to April 2025, about 5.44 million children under age five will face acute malnutrition, including 1.8 million with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and 3.7 million with Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM). Furthermore, about 787,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will need urgent nutritional support.
The report attributes the rising malnutrition crisis to several factors, including inadequate food supply, poor feeding practices, limited health services, high disease rates, and low health-seeking behavior.
