WFP Suspends Food Aid to 2 Million People in Central Sahel as Global Funding Collapses

The World Food Programme announced it will suspend humanitarian food assistance to approximately 2 million people across the Central Sahel region (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger) and Nigeria in April 2026, citing a severe $620 million funding shortfall over the next six months. The cuts directly compound the humanitarian consequences of the Sahel insurgency: conflict-driven displacement, road insecurity, and closure of markets and health facilities have left millions unable to access food, and WFP food distributions have been a critical lifeline for those in besieged areas such as Djibo (Burkina Faso) and Tillabéri communities (Niger). 'The global shrinkage of foreign aid is posing a significant threat to our operations in Western Africa,' said WFP Regional Director for Western Africa Margot van der Velden. The FAO separately projected that 52.8 million people could face acute food insecurity across 15 West African and Sahelian countries during the June–August 2026 lean season — up from 41.8 million currently — with Niger alone having 2.4 million acutely food insecure and 400,000 children with severe acute malnutrition. Also on April 19, regional analysts confirmed the full severity of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) diplomatic freeze with Algeria: following a series of political disputes in March–April 2026, all three AES member states (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger) have effectively suspended ties with Algiers — a significant rupture, given Algeria's historical role as the guarantor of the 2015 Algiers Accord and a key interlocutor between AES and ECOWAS. The AES's pivot away from its most significant Arab regional partner signals deepening geopolitical isolation of the three junta-governed states.