Hormuz crisis compounds Nigeria nutrition emergency as hungry season arrives early

Abuja, Nigeria, June 10, 2026 —  Nigeria is facing a worsening nutrition crisis as an early food shortage season drives a sharp rise in acute malnutrition in children months before the usual hunger peak, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is warning. The crisis is being compounded by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has pushed fuel prices sharply higher across Nigeria, accelerating food price rises and deepening the pressures bearing down on families during the pre-harvest lean season.

With patient admissions to nutrition facilities already climbing faster than in 2025, the IRC fears cases could surpass last year's peak in the months ahead. Between October 2025 and March 2026, IRC-supported health facilities recorded an increase in inpatient admissions for severe acute malnutrition in the first quarter of 2026. 

For outpatient treatment sites, the situation is particularly critical in northwestern Nigeria with admissions more than double between the same period to over 18,000, signaling a worrying escalation in child malnutrition cases even before the height of the period between harvests when food availability is at its lowest.        

Céline Soulier, Nutrition Technical Advisor for the IRC in West and Central Africa, said: 

“I have just returned from northern Nigeria where I witnessed children suffering from levels of malnutrition I have not seen in a very long time. What is especially alarming is that the hungry season has only just begun, yet hospitals are already full, struggling to admit the growing number of children with severe acute malnutrition. 

“There is an urgent need for additional funding to sustain and scale up the response. New cases are already rising rapidly, while staffing levels remain unchanged, placing immense pressure on frontline health workers and threatening the quality of care that vulnerable children urgently need.”

Armed conflict in northwest Nigeria and insurgency in the northeast are driving acute malnutrition across the country, with insecurity disrupting food supplies and healthcare access, and inflation putting nutritious food beyond reach for many households.Conflict remains at high levels across the north and is expected to worsen through September, deepening food insecurity as fighting compounds the lean season. Inaccessible areas of Borno State face the most severe outlook due to prolonged displacement, limited economic activity, and restricted humanitarian assistance.

Armed conflict in northwest Nigeria and insurgency in the northeast are driving acute malnutrition across the country. High rates of diseases such as measles, diarrhea, and malaria worsen nutrition outcomes, while insecurity and banditry disrupt food supplies and healthcare access. Inflation has also made nutritious food unaffordable for many households. Northwest Nigeria is particularly affected by poor access to healthcare and chronic underfunding.

Conditions are expected to deteriorate further before the harvests. In response, the IRC is delivering lifesaving malnutrition treatment, training health workers, supporting community detection efforts, and helping families access critical nutrition services. The IRC’s response to treat the most vulnerable of this crisis is being made possible largely through the support of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which currently funds nearly 70% of the IRC’s nutrition programming in Nigeria.

The IRC has been working in Nigeria since 2012, providing life saving support to communities in Nigeria affected by climate-related disasters, armed conflict and other poverty related issues, by providing health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, and education services. The IRC runs nutrition programs across 3 states in the northwest, Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina, 4 inpatient sites and 17 outpatient clinics in 2026, and in across two states of the northeast of the country, Borno and  Adamawa, with five inpatient sites in 2026, as well as 56 outpatient clinics in 2026.