The World Food Programme (WFP) has reported spending $5 million, equivalent to approximately N7.4 billion, on shock-response and social protection interventions within Nigeria during 2025. This allocation comes at a time when Nigeria is grappling with a significant food crisis, impacting millions of its citizens.

Serigne Loum, the Acting Country Director of WFP, announced the figures in Abuja. The disclosure was made during the inauguration of the Shock-Responsive Social Protection Technical Working Group and a validation workshop for Standard Operating Procedures. This initiative was organized in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.

The WFP's intervention is particularly crucial given the widespread food insecurity in Nigeria, which affects an estimated 35 million people. The most severely impacted population is concentrated in the country's northeast region, an area long affected by conflict.

Loum emphasized the immense strain on humanitarian systems in Nigeria. He noted that over a decade of overlapping crises has stretched both government agencies and aid organizations to their limits. This situation underscores the need for robust and responsive social protection mechanisms.

He expressed optimism about Nigeria's potential to lead by example in this sector. Loum stated that if the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) protocol for shock-responsive social protection is effectively operationalized, Nigeria could serve as a standard reference point for peer learning across Africa and globally.

Furthermore, Loum highlighted Nigeria's existing extensive database of poor and vulnerable households. This database is considered a strong foundation for scaling up targeted interventions and enhancing the overall effectiveness of social protection programs in the country.