The projection, based on the latestCadre Harmonisan analysis of acute food and nutritioninsecurityin the Sahel and West Africa region, is the highest number recorded inNigeriasince monitoring began, the WFP said.

Violence has escalated in 2025, with attacks by insurgents including al-Qaeda affiliate Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which carried out its first strike inNigerialast month, and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Recent incidents underscore the crisis: ISWAP fighters killed abrigadier-generalin the northeast, while armed bandits abducted more than300 Catholic school studentsin a mass kidnapping days after storming a public school, killing a deputy head teacher and seizing25 schoolgirls.

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'Repeated attacks'

The advance of insurgency presents a serious threat to stability in the north, with consequences reaching beyondNigeria, said David Stevenson, WFPNigeriacountry director.

Communities are under severe pressure from repeated attacks and economic stress.

Rural farming communities have been hit hardest. Nearly 6 million people lack basic minimum foodsuppliesin Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, while 15,000 in Borno are projected to face famine-like conditions.

Malnutrition rates are highest among children in Borno, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara, WFP said.

Almost a million people in the northeast currently rely on WFP aid, but funding shortfalls forced the agency toscale down nutritionprogrammes in July, affecting more than 300,000 children.

In areas where clinics closed, malnutrition worsened from serious to critical in the third quarter.

The WFP's biggest donor, the United States, has slashed its foreign aid under PresidentDonald Trump, and other major nations have also made or announced cuts in assistance.

WFP warned it will run out of funds for emergency food and nutrition aid by December, leaving millions dependent on its support without assistance in 2026.

Originally published on RFI