Around 55 million people in West and Central Africa are expected to face acute food insecurity during the lean season between June and August 2026.
The UN World Food Programme warned in Geneva that millions will slip into crisis, emergency, or catastrophic hunger conditions.
Jean Martin Bauer said nearly three million people are projected to endure emergency levels, double the figure recorded across the region in 2020.
For the first time in a decade, parts of northeastern Nigeria, including Borno State, are expected to enter catastrophic food insecurity.
Bauer said about 15,000 people in specific areas are one step from famine, with death rates already far above normal.
“People are starving,” he told reporters, describing communities where empty plates echo louder than any storm.
Despite a relatively favourable rainy season, Bauer stressed the crisis is driven by conflict and sharp cuts to humanitarian funding.
The WFP has already halted aid to 300,000 children in Nigeria and may cut support to 500,000 people in Cameroon.
Around 13 million children across the region are at risk in 2026, heightening urgency for nutrition programmes.
The agency says it needs $453 million within six months to prevent deeper hunger and a collapse in child nutrition.