By Erewunmi Peace

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed recent donor contributions aimed at tackling severe hunger and malnutrition in northeast Nigeria, where more than 2.5 million children are at risk of acute malnutrition.

According to WFP, years of conflict, displacement, and economic hardship have left millions of families without reliable access to food. The crisis has been worsened by funding shortages, which earlier forced WFP to scale back life-saving assistance in the region.

“With new donor support, we will be able to reach more vulnerable children and families with the nutrition and food aid they urgently need,” WFP said in a statement.

Humanitarian partners warn that unless urgent action is taken, rising food insecurity could lead to preventable deaths among children under five. UNICEF has also raised concern, linking malnutrition to nearly half of child mortality cases in Nigeria.

Despite the new contributions, WFP emphasized that funding gaps remain significant and called on the international community to step up support to prevent a worsening humanitarian disaster.