Nigeria's Food Insecurity Crisis Deepens as Inflation Surges

Nigeria's food insecurity crisis is intensifying, as alarming new figures reveal a surge in both inflation and the number of people going hungry. The World Food Programme (WFP) has reported a dramatic increase in Nigeria's food inflation, which rose to 39.84% in December 2024, a significant jump from 33.9% recorded in the previous year.

The ramifications of this economic trend are severe, with the number of food-insecure Nigerians climbing from 66.2 million in the first quarter of 2023 to an astonishing 100 million by the first quarter of 2024.

Furthermore, the WFP's projections paint a grim picture: 18.6 million Nigerians are battling acute hunger, while 43.7 million face hunger at crisis level or worse as of March 2024. This growing crisis calls for urgent humanitarian, social protection, and food systems initiatives to mitigate the looming threat of widespread famine.