UN FOOD AGENCY WARNS 55M PEOPLE IN WEST, CENTRAL AFRICA FACE ACUTE HUNGER IN 2026 LEAN SEASON

Fri 16 January 2026:

Around 55 million people in West and Central Africa are expected to face acute food insecurity during the lean season between June and August 2026, the UN food agency warned on Friday, citing the latest regional food security analysis.

Jean Martin Bauer, director of food security and nutrition analysis at the World Food Program (WFP), told reporters in Geneva that the figure reflects people classified in crisis, emergency or catastrophic conditions under the region’s food security scale.

Bauer said around 3 million people are projected to face emergency conditions, double the level recorded in 2020. For the first time in a decade, parts of northeastern Nigeria, specifically Borno State, are expected to see populations in catastrophic food insecurity, he added.

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“This is a group that’s one step away from famine,” he said, adding that an estimated 15,000 people in specific areas of Borno are affected. He warned that mortality levels there are “way above normal” and said plainly that “people are starving.”

Noting that the last rainy season was relatively favorable, Bauer stressed that the crisis is not driven by climate conditions, but by violence and severe cuts to humanitarian funding.

He said WFP has already had to stop assistance to about 300,000 children in Nigeria and may cut support to half a million people in Cameroon due to lack of resources.

Bauer added that around 13 million children across the region are at risk in 2026, underscoring the need to prioritize nutrition programs.

WFP estimates it needs $453 million over the next six months to maintain essential assistance and prevent further deterioration in food consumption and child nutrition indicators.

-Source: AA

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