Despite the passage of the Right to Food Act in 2023, which mandates the government to ensure food security, millions of Nigerians face hunger and malnutrition.
The situation is particularly dire in Northern Nigeria, where food insecurity is exacerbated by insecurity, poor policy implementation, and economic challenges, with reports of a dramatic increase in the number of severely malnourished children requiring treatment.
According to the latest World Food Programme (WFP) Nigeria Situation Report, 11 million people across six states in northeast and northwest Nigeria are facing acute food insecurity in 2025. The report attributed the crisis to persistent insecurity, skyrocketing food and fuel prices, climate shocks, and mass displacement, leaving millions struggling to access food and essential nutrition.
A UNICEF report further highlighted that one in three Nigerian children under five, approximately 11 million, are experiencing severe food poverty, making them 50 per cent more likely to suffer from life-threatening wasting. The report identified inadequate nutrition, aggressive marketing of ultra-processed foods, and economic hardships as key factors driving child food poverty.
In 2024 alone, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said it treated over 300,000 children for malnutrition, a 25 per cent increase from 2023.
Of these, 75,000 required critical inpatient care, while 250,000 were managed through outpatient programmes across seven states: Borno, Bauchi, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi.
MSF country representative Dr Simba Tirima told LEADERSHIP that the humanitarian organisation had witnessed an alarming surge in admissions, surpassing previous years across all its treatment centres.
“Malnutrition is worsening, with admissions exceeding past years in all locations,” Dr Tirima stated.
The crisis is fuelled by multiple factors, including rising food prices, insecurity affecting farming activities, and climate-related shocks such as flooding, which have led to significant crop losses.
“Without an adequate supply of therapeutic foods, we will struggle to effectively treat malnourished children, which could lead to preventable fatalities,” Dr Tirima warned.
MSF said it had begun stockpiling supplies before the peak malnutrition season, particularly in Bauchi State, which operates a 250-bed inpatient facility and three outpatient feeding centres.
However, the organisation remains concerned that decreased funding for other humanitarian agencies could further strain its response capacity.
It, therefore, called for urgent government intervention to address the crisis, highlighting the need for stronger primary healthcare services, greater funding for nutrition programmes, and expanded vaccination campaigns.
“Authorities and partners must take greater action to address the malnutrition crisis,” Dr Tirima emphasised.
With malnutrition cases already surging well before the traditional peak season, MSF fears that 2025 could bring an even graver crisis.
The organisation warns that without immediate intervention, northern Nigeria could see record levels of malnutrition, leading to increased child mortality rates.
In the Right to Food Act, the Nigerian constitution recognises food as a fundamental human right and obligates the government to make food available, accessible, and affordable to all Nigerians. Yet, policy implementation remains weak, and there is no long-term strategy to achieve the law’s objectives.
Executive director of the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), Dr Michael Terungwa David, noted that though the Right to Food Act was a constitutional amendment signed into law in March 2023, a law is only as strong as its enforcement, and its enforcement is only as strong as the awareness around it.
“Food is not a privilege; it is a basic human right. Yet, millions of Nigerians still struggle with hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity. The Right to Food Act is a significant policy that addresses these challenges by ensuring access to nutritious, sufficient, and affordable food for all. It mandates government to take responsibility for implementing measures that will make food available, accessible, and adequate for every citizen,” he said.
Dr David identified insecurity as a challenge, noting that conflicts have forced farmers off their lands, making food production difficult.
For instance, 40 per cent of Benue State’s farmland is no longer under cultivation due to insecurity.
In 2021, Nigeria produced 203 million metric tonnes of food, yet hunger persists due to poor distribution and storage policies. Dr David noted that the country’s estimated daily food requirement per person is 2.5 kg. With 230 million people, the nation needs 575,000 metric tonnes of food daily or 210 million metric tonnes annually.
Also, Professor G. B. Ayoola, founder of the Farm and Infrastructure Foundation (FIF) and chairman of Voices for Food Security (VFS), insists that government accountability is crucial for ensuring the Right to Food is a lived reality.
According to him, the Act legally obligates policymakers to respect the right to food by ensuring policies do not hinder access, protect the right to food from harmful practices by both state and private actors and fulfill the right to food by directly assisting vulnerable populations.
He said that failure to uphold these obligations could lead to legal consequences, yet enforcement remains weak.
Between June and August 2025, an estimated 30.6 million Nigerians across 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are expected to experience food shortages, according to the February–March Cadre Harmonisé (CH) analysis. While this is a slight decline from the 33.1 million projected in November 2024, experts warn that millions will still face severe food consumption deficits due to conflict-driven displacements, climate disasters, and economic pressures.
The crisis is particularly devastating for children and pregnant women, with 5.4 million children under five and 787,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women suffering from acute malnutrition. This represents a 23 per cent increase from previous figures.
Alarmingly, 3.7 million children in the northeast are malnourished, struggling with stunting, wasting, and anaemia, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The most affected states include Yobe, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Katsina, where acute malnutrition has reached Phase Four (Emergency Level) in some local government areas. Maiduguri, Jere, Mobbar, Nganzai, and Mashi are among locations facing dire nutrition crises, with 178,000 children and women from conflict-affected communities most at risk.
Meanwhile, UNICEF has called for bold policy actions to end child food poverty, including strengthening food systems to make nutritious foods more accessible and affordable, expanding nutrition services to prevent and treat malnutrition in early childhood and enhancing social protection programmes, including cash transfers and food aid for vulnerable families.
The Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) is a UNICEF-led initiative designed to prevent, detect, and treat severe child food poverty and malnutrition. It is hoped that malnourished children will find succour through the CNF.
The CNF, established last year with multiple partner support, is a financing mechanism that encourages domestic investments in child nutrition.
UNICEF has urged governments, donors, and financial partners to support the CNF further and prioritise sustainable interventions to tackle child malnutrition. It says that increased investment in nutrition programmes is critical to ensuring that children receive the essential nutrients they need to grow and thrive.
With Nigeria among the top 20 countries with the highest burden of severe child food poverty, stakeholders stress that without urgent intervention, the situation could spiral into a full-blown humanitarian disaster.
However, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has said that it was implementing some nutrition intervention policies in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
The director and head of the nutrition department at the ministry, Mrs Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi, stressed the need for improved nutrition budgetary allocation, stating that investment in nutrition will prevent over 10 million cases of childhood diarrhoea and pneumonia, and about 220,000 child deaths annually in thecountry – an important contribution to reducing overall under-5 child mortality.
According to her, intentional Investment in comprehensive nutrition services across the country has the potential to save up to $22 million in healthcare treatment costs related to child malnutrition.
She, therefore, urged lawmakers to ensure pro-nutrition budgetary allocation to key ministries and departments responsible for the delivery of nutrition-specific and sensitive programmes by ensuring timely release of adequate funds, monitoring expenditures, and making sure monies are properly expended.
She urged the legislators to schedule a full-fledged annual debate on nutrition status in their federal constituencies.
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