SERIOUS HUMANITARIAN CRISES IN AFGHANISTAN, NIGERIA AND ETHIOPIA
World hunger is entering a critical phase, fuelled by a convergence of factors that go far beyond local emergencies. Armed conflict, climate change, economic shocks and a dramatic decline in humanitarian funding are pushing millions of people towards acute food insecurity. Afghanistan, Nigeria and Ethiopia are three epicentres of this global crisis, all with different contexts but united by the same trajectory of impoverishment and neglect.
In Afghanistan, winter traditionally marks the deadliest period, but this time the risk is unprecedented. According to data published by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) on 16 December, more than 17 million people are in IPC stage 3 or higher, i.e. in acute food crisis or emergency conditions. This is about one third of the population, an increase of 3 million compared to last year. In the coming months, 4.9 million women and children will need treatment for malnutrition. Experts point out that infant mortality always increases between December and January, but next year is likely to be devastating in much of Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, winter is the deadliest time, but this time the risk is unprecedented
The crisis stems from a series of overlapping shocks: the worst drought in decades has devastated crops, two major earthquakes have struck already fragile communities, and border closures have caused trade and incomes to collapse. Added to this is the forced return of millions of migrants from Pakistan and Iran: since January 2025, more than 2.5 million people have returned to Afghanistan, while in the last two years the total has reached 4.8 million, about 10% of the population. With the decrease in work abroad, remittances, often the only source of livelihood, have also disappeared.
The picture is aggravated by aid cuts. The WFP needs over 450 million dollars to assist 6 million vulnerable people during the winter, yet it has received funding for only 12% of that amount. By 2023, the shortage of funds had already excluded 10 million people from food aid. Today, most families cut off resort to destructive survival strategies: the sale of productive assets, child labour, withdrawing children from school. The impact on women is particularly dramatic, with an increase in forced early marriages.
More than 32 million people in Nigeria are suffering from severe food shortages due to armed insurgency
Calls to the telephone lines set up by the WFP to provide psychological assistance record an increasing number of women expressing suicidal thoughts.
A similarly deep crisis is striking Nigeria. According to WFP, more than 30 million people suffer from severe food shortages due to the conflict, internal displacements and rising food prices. The north-east of the country, marked by years of armed insurgency, bears the brunt of the crisis, but food insecurity is also spreading to the north-west and other regions. The devastating floods that hit Maiduguri in September 2024 caused the temporary displacement of more than 400,000 people. WFP managed to provide hot meals to some 78,000 needy people in the first 24 hours, but resources remain insufficient. According to experts, more than two hundred million dollars would be required to assist 1.6 million people in the north-east and prevent a further deterioration of the situation, which could destabilise the entire area.
Today, Ethiopia is also considered a region where the population is at risk of starvation. Conflict, displacement, extreme weather events and economic shocks have pushed more than ten million people into severe food insecurity. These include some 3 million IDPs. The country is also home to more than one million refugees from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan, who are largely dependent on food aid. In some areas, harvests have improved, but in many others, conflict and repeated climatic shocks such as droughts, floods and landslides continue to affect access to food.
In Ethiopia, insecurity in the Amhara region is hindering aid
In early 2025, WFP reached 3 million people in Ethiopia. However, insecurity in the Amhara region has hampered humanitarian operations and the agency warns that without safe corridors it will not be possible to reach the most vulnerable families. This region is caught in a conflict between the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) and the Fano militia coalition.
The clashes started in April 2023 with sporadic minor fighting. In August 2023, the Fano militias launched an offensive to take control of the region's major cities. Since then, the situation has deteriorated significantly. According to some estimates, the violence claimed the lives of more than 7,000 people between 2023 and 2025. Now this crisis is compounded by a humanitarian crisis, and international organisations have sounded a further alarm that the financial outlook is alarming. Without new funding, aid organisations warn that more than three and a half million people risk being denied life-saving care.
Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Ethiopia are, sadly, among the parts of the world most affected by hunger—a crisis driven not only by food shortages, but by political decisions, unresolved conflicts, and an international system that appears increasingly incapable of responding to emergencies. Without swift and coordinated action by the international community, the main price of inaction, as always, will mainly be paid by women and children.
