ActionAid Nigeria has raised alarm over Nigeria’s persistent food insecurity, noting that the country still ranks among those with the highest number of food-insecure people globally.
ActionAid Country Director, Andrew Mamedu, said this on Wednesday during a media dialogue to commemorate World Food Day 2025, themed “Hand in Hand for Better Food and a Better Future.”
Citing recent FAO projections, Mamedu said 30.6 million people across 26 states and the FCT were at risk of acute food and nutrition insecurity between June and Aug. 2025.
While this shows a minor improvement from 2024’s 33.1 million estimate, Mamedu said Nigeria still remained one of the countries with the largest number of food-insecure citizens.
He blamed insecurity for keeping farmers off their lands during planting and harvest seasons, worsening food gaps in states like Benue, Kaduna, Kwara, Taraba, Cross River, and Niger.
“In Benue, attacks on farming communities have destroyed farmlands and displaced thousands, crippling production of staples like yam, maize, and rice,” Mamedu stated.
He also cited communal clashes in Plateau and banditry in Niger State, which had driven massive displacement and left vast farmlands uncultivated, threatening national grain supply.
Referencing the World Bank, Mamedu said more than 139 million Nigerians live below the poverty line.
“In rural areas, three in four people face extreme poverty and food deprivation.”
He called for a National Poverty Summit to harmonise existing policies into a single, binding National Action Plan to tackle hunger and poverty across Nigeria.
ActionAid urged government to increase investment in agriculture, particularly in climate-resilient practices for smallholder farmers, and to ensure full release of budgeted funds by state governments.
“It is unacceptable that many states spend just 25 per cent of their approved agriculture budgets, in spite of rising food and livelihood needs,” Mamedu said.
He called on the National Assembly to strengthen oversight to ensure transparency and timely utilisation of agricultural funds, making sure resources reach the farmers who fed the nation.
Mamedu said the 2025 theme was a reminder that building a food-secure future required collective action, from governments, civil society, the private sector, and every Nigerian citizen.
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