The United Nations World Food Programme has declared Nigeria to be the most food-insecure nation with 31.8 million people affected.
Compared to 2023, an increase of 28 per cent are facing acute food insecurity, the highest number globally.
The organisation identified inflation, flooding and displacement due to continued conflict in the North-East, North-West and North-Central as a driving force of food insecurity in the country.
This, the WFP says, has disrupted livelihood activities, limited access to income-generation and constrained sustainable food production.
“Inflation has skyrocketed and is not decreasing as expected with the start of the current harvest,” the UN agency said.
Prices of staple foods like maize, millet, sorghum and beans have averaged between 100-300 per cent from 2023 prices across surveyed markets.
Citing the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) dashboard, the WFP says approximately 1 million people have been affected by flooding with the highest prevalence in the North-East and North-West.
The floods have also destroyed 442,790 hectares of crop and increased malnutrition rates in both regions.
The number of severely and moderately malnourished children admitted at treatment facilities has also increased by 41 per cent and 70 per cent respectively compared to 2023.
Report by Safeeyah Mohammed