The United States government has approved $32.5 million to help Nigeria tackle its growing hunger crisis, especially in communities affected by conflict and insecurity.
The U.S. Mission to Nigeria confirmed the donation in a statement on Wednesday, explaining that the support will provide food and nutritional assistance to internally displaced persons across the northeast and northwest.
“This includes complementary nutrition top-ups for 41,569 pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls and 43,235 children through electronic food vouchers,” the statement read.
The aid comes at a time when northern Nigeria is battling what aid groups describe as an unprecedented hunger emergency. Margot van der Velden, the World Food Programme’s regional director for West Africa, had warned in July that over 1.3 million people could face extreme hunger, with about 150 nutrition clinics in Borno State at risk of closing due to a lack of funds.
The crisis worsened after funding cuts forced the World Food Programme to suspend food distribution in parts of West and Central Africa earlier this year. Food stocks in many crisis-hit areas are projected to run out before the end of September, leaving millions vulnerable.
Nigeria has continued to face attacks from insurgents in the northeast and rising violence in the northwest and north-central regions, where clashes between farmers and herders over land and water have intensified. In June, at least 150 people were killed during an attack in north-central Nigeria.
The ongoing insurgency in the northeast has claimed around 35,000 civilian lives and displaced more than 2 million people, according to United Nations data.
The new U.S. funding is expected to bring some relief to over 764,000 beneficiaries struggling to access food as insecurity and economic hardship worsen across the country.
