NORTHERN NIGERIA — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Thursday that escalating conflict in northern Nigeria and dwindling humanitarian aid are causing a food crisis, reaching levels not observed in nearly a decade. More than 17 million people across nine conflict-affected states are experiencing crisis, emergency, or catastrophic hunger levels, according to recent data.

The expanding conflict is forcing people from their farmlands, resulting in displacement and restricting humanitarian access. Serigne Loum, WFP's Deputy Country Director in Nigeria, said, "Across all of northern Nigeria we have been seeing an increase and spread in insurgent attacks and violence." He added, "Families are being forced from their home and it's getting harder for WFP to access people who urgently need food assistance."

Nigeria has been managing a jihadist insurgency in the northeast since 2009. Jihadists have since extended their activities into the northwest, where armed groups known as "bandits" are causing a separate crisis. The WFP indicated that the number of locations inaccessible to its frontline staff has doubled.

Cargo movements along major routes are increasingly disrupted by attacks and illegal checkpoints. The WFP stated that the lack of food aid due to funding shortfalls has led to an increase in exploitation and gender-based harm affecting women and children in some camps. The suspension of food assistance is also driving people towards desperate coping strategies, including individuals joining armed groups for food or income.

Habiba, a displaced mother in Borno State, said her family sometimes goes two nights without food and occasionally receives only one meal. "And when children keep going hungry, it's hard to be with them awake with nothing," she said. Aid reductions enacted by the U.S. government under President Donald Trump and other Western nations have affected some of Nigeria's most vulnerable households in recent years. The WFP requires $89 million over the next six months to maintain food and nutrition support across northern Nigeria.