A new report from Cadre Harmonisé (CH) has revealed that 30.6 million Nigerians across 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) could face a food crisis between June and August 2025.
The affected states include Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Edo, Enugu, FCT, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara.
Cadre Harmonise is a survey carried out by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security with technical support from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Norwegian Refugee Council, Care, Action Against Hunger, Save the Children and other partners.
According to the report, approximately 25.8 million people, including 116,765 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), are already experiencing food insecurity or worse between now and May 2025.
The crisis is driven by several factors, including conflict and insecurity, which continue to disrupt livelihoods. Other contributing factors include widespread vulnerability, limited income-generating opportunities, job losses, and declining access to essential resources.
Speaking at the report presentation in Abuja on Friday, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Kouacou Dominique Koffy, emphasized that armed conflict and organized crime have worsened food insecurity across the country.
Represented by the FAO Assistant Representative for Programmes, Salisu Mohammed, Koffy explained that the CH analysis, conducted twice a year in March and October, aims to assess populations and areas at risk of food and nutrition insecurity.
He noted that the report not only identifies food crises but also proposes measures to prevent further deterioration.
“We continue to witness unprecedented times in the country and the region, with multiple shocks impacting livelihoods, food security, and nutrition,” Koffy stated.
“We have faced the worst inflation in over 20 years, which has driven economic hardship making it difficult for households to secure food and other essential commodities.
“This has dragged on for nearly two years. We have also witnessed the negative impacts of extreme climatic hazards, particularly flooding.
“This makes CH the most relevant early warning tool for humanitarian programming, food security and livelihood response targeting, and for prioritisation of development programmes.
“In this cycle of CH, only the 26 states of the federation plus the FCT were analysed, again leaving out the other 10 states”.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, also noted that the results are apt as it present the outcome of the state of the country’s food and nutrition security situation.
Ogunbiyi, who was represented by the Director, Food and Strategic Reserve of the Ministry, Dr. Onyema Okwudili, noted that the volatile state of changes in the prices of petroleum products, have remained a concern in the country’s food production and distribution systems, with spikes in cost of production and food haulage, destabilising livelihoods and driving up rural unemployment.
This, he said, is particularly among the youthful population.
“These challenges pushed up the cost of services thus propelling reduction in the availability and access to stable income generating sources among a significant population, thus limiting households’ economic capacity to sustain minimal acceptable food consumption outcomes in several urban and rural communities across the country.
READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then