The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warns that, without urgent resources and action, the most vulnerable people in the Sahel region are headed for another dire year. A staggering 53 million people in the region are expected to experience crisis-level hunger, or worse, during the lean season from June to August 2026. Over 13 million children are also expected to suffer from malnutrition.
Among the findings of the latest food security analysis from the Cadre Harmonisé is the estimation that over 1.8 million people will face emergency levels of food insecurity (Phase 4) during the lean season.
Four countries — Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger — account for 77 percent of the food insecurity figures. This includes 15,000 people in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State who are at risk of catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5) for the first time in nearly a decade, which indicates a severely stressed food security situation.
"Vital humanitarian aid is a transformative and stabilizing force in volatile contexts," said Sarah Longford, the WFP's Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa, in a statement on Friday.
“The reduced funding we saw in 2025 has deepened hunger and malnutrition across the region. As needs outpace funding, so too does the risk of young people falling into desperation.”
She added that supporting communities in crisis is critical so that rampant hunger doesn’t lead to more ”unrest, displacement, and conflict across the region.”
While the last rainy season in the Sahel has been relatively favorable and crops are doing well, vulnerabilities mainly stem from violence and large funding cuts.
A toxic combination of surging conflict, displacement, and economic turmoil has driven hunger in the region. However, reductions in humanitarian assistance are now pushing communities beyond their ability to cope.
In Mali, areas that received reduced food rations experienced a 64 percent surge in acute hunger (IPC 3 or worse) since 2023, while areas that received full rations experienced a 34 percent decrease. Yet, continued insecurity in Mali has disrupted critical supply lines to major cities, which includes food supplies, and 1.5 million of the most vulnerable Malians are expected to face crisis levels of hunger.
In Nigeria, funding shortfalls last year forced WFP to scale down its nutrition programs, leaving more than 300,000 children without access to vital nutrition services. Malnutrition levels in several northern states have since deteriorated from "serious" to "critical."
The current dire funding outlook threatens to deepen the hunger crisis even further. In Nigeria, the WFP will only be able to assist 72,000 people in February, which is a significant decrease from the 1.3 million people it helped during the 2025 lean season.
In Cameroon, without urgent funding, more than 500,000 vulnerable people could be cut off from life-saving assistance in the coming weeks.
Jean Martin Bauer, WFP Director of Food Security and Nutrition Analysis, told reporters in Geneva on Friday that the funding situation has worsened to the point of creating a humanitarian vacuum, with some aid agencies totally withdrawing from the region.
WFP says that with adequate funding, it has consistently delivered measurable impacts that improve food security through resilience, social protection, and anticipatory action efforts.
For example, land restoration in the Sahel generates up to USD 30 for every USD 1 spent. Since 2018, the UN agency has rehabilitated over 300,000 hectares of degraded land across five countries, protecting more than 4 million people in over 3,400 villages.
According to WFP, its programs in the region support infrastructure development, school meals, nutrition programs, capacity building, and seasonal aid. These programs help families cope with extreme weather and security risks, stabilize local economies, and decrease their reliance on aid.
“To break the cycle of hunger for future generations, we need a paradigm shift in 2026. National governments and their partners must increase investment in preparedness, anticipatory action, and resilience-building to empower communities,” Longford said.
WFP urgently requires more than $453 million over the next six months to continue providing life-saving humanitarian assistance across the Sahel region.