AfDB, World Food Programme Pact To Tackle Northeast Food Crisis

LAGOS – The United Nations World Food Programme and AfDB pact has provided $1 million from its Special Re­lief Fund to provide emer­gency food assistance to flood-affected communities in northeastern Nigeria amid the devastating floods that hit Borno State since September 2024.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) support is crit­ical, as humanitarian fund­ing shortages coincide with rising food insecurity exac­erbated by conflict, floods, and increasing poverty rates. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will manage the distribution on behalf of the central govern­ment, reaching 120,000 peo­ple with essential food aid. Each household will receive 35kg of staple foods.

“The African Develop­ment Bank’s support is time­ly and comes as a lifeline for those struggling to feed them­selves amidst rising food pric­es and economic turmoil,” said David Stevenson, WFP’s Country Director in Nigeria. Communities which, after years of conflict and violence, started rebuilding their lives were struck by the floods and once again displaced, mean­ing more and more people cannot support themselves and their families.”

The September 2024 floods have exacerbated existing challenges in the region, where years of dis­placement, food insecurity, and economic hardship have already taken a severe toll. The latest Cadre Harmon­isé food security analysis, conducted in November 2024 across 26 states and the federal capital, projects that 33 million people in Nigeria will face food insecurity by August 2025.

“I hope that this addi­tional funding will mitigate the suffering of vulnerable people on the brink of acute hunger at a time when more Nigerians than ever need humanitarian assistance,” said Abdul Kamara, African Development Bank Director General in Nigeria. “I com­mend the Federal Govern­ment of Nigeria and WFP for the continuous efforts to op­erate in such a challenging environment to improve the lives of Nigerian families.”

This new contribution complements AfDB’s ongo­ing effort to restructure ac­tivities of the Programme for Integrated Agricultural Development, Adaptation to Climate Change (PIDACC) and the Inclusive Basic Ser­vice Delivery and Livelihood Empowerment Program to avail critically needed ser­vices in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states.

As part of the govern­ment’s Borno State Devel­opment Plan, WFP and its partners deliver food and specialised nutrition assis­tance to one million people in Borno State each month. WFP also trains and men­tors health facility staff to conduct screenings and manage acute malnutrition among women and children, promoting appropriate ma­ternal, infant, and young child nutrition practices. The government of Nigeria is a firm supporter of WFP’s humanitarian food system solutions in Borno state.