Main results of Food and Nutrition Insecurity (FNI) situations for areas and populations at risk in twenty-six (26) Nigeria states of Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara and the FCT.

In the current period (March to May; 2024) about 24, 962, 214 (12.5%) persons across the analyzed states are under Crisis to Worst (Phase 3 to 5) of FNI. Of these populations, 72, 544 (0.29%) are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) resident in Sokoto (25,683) and Zamfara (46,861) States, respectively. The population of persons in Emergency (Phase 4) during the current period is estimated as 428, 872, made up of 261,371 (60.9%) and 94,621 (22.1%) residents in the BAY and Katsina states. The increase in the number of vulnerable population is driven by the lingering insecurity which is driving high levels of agricultural livelihood disruptions and losses, abnormal spikes in food prices, soaring inflation rates, unstable Consumer Price Index rate increase, dollar-naira exchange depreciation rate, petroleum product subsidies removal and its negative consequences on transportation and overall living cost. The lingering impact of Russia/Ukraine war influences on the prices of farm inputs (fertilizers and agrochemicals).

By June to August, 2024; the number of persons in the critical phases (3 to 5) of FNI may increase 16.64% to reach 31,758,165 across the twenty six (26) states and the FCT. This population is made up of about 999,333 persons in the Emergency Phase (Phase 4) of the FNI situation, with states of Benue (25,963), Niger (95,020) and Kogi (41,678) inclusive in states with emerging FNI challenges. Unless targeted humanitarian actions in the forms of food assistance, emergency agricultural support and resillence livelihood re-building interventions are urgently implemented among the risk populations, their FNI situation may deteriorate further.

To address the challenges of FNI among the vulnerable population in identified risk areas, there is an urgent need for decision makers to:
1. establish a food and nutrition security response coordination mechanism to sustain humanitarian action on food aid and cash transfer, while also advocating and scaling up peace development and resilience-building approaches in areas and populations affected by food and nutrition insecurity across the states
2. synergize with humanitarian and development partners to address the root causes of vulnerability, and strengthen the resilience status of communities by deliberately investing in key infrastructure along the agriculture/food value chain that will enhance access to production resources (quality agro-inputs, farm implements, irrigation, information/extension services, post-harvest management, market access, among others) especially to vulnerable farming households ahead of the lean season (June-August,2024)
3. enhance governments, humanitarian agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) continual utilization of the Cadre Harmonize (CH) analysis results as a valuable tool for planning responses, formulating policies, and allocating resources on FNS crisis management

4. allocate and sustain annual budgetary provisions to support the conduct of the CH analysis. The allocated budget should be substantial enough to support the conduct of FNs assessments to enhance data availability For Technical and Financial Partners
5. sustain joint support for the timely conduct of Food and Nutrition Security assessments. This will enhance the timely availability of relevant data and information for the CH analysis, especially for states worst affected by insecurity and other forms of shocks with high populations of vulnerability
6. support efforts of the Government in expanding CH processes to the remaining ten (10) states to generate a nationwide and broader overview of the food and nutrition insecurity situation in the subsequent CH analyses.
7. continue to build national and regional synergy among each other to complement the efforts of governments in scaling up and implementing the recommendations from the outcome of CH analysis for Nigeria.
8. support technical capacity strengthening of the national and state CH task force in the analysis of food and nutrition security outcomes and informations, the conduct of food and nutrition security assessments (FNSA), essential needs assessment (ENA), and household economic analysis (HEA) to deepen their insights on the CH process