Niger — humanitarian situation

Niger faces a protracted humanitarian crisis driven by food insecurity, malnutrition, and the broader regional context of escalating violence and diminishing humanitarian access across West and Central Africa. According to the December 2025 Cadre Harmonisé analysis, 2.4 million people are projected to face severe food insecurity in 2026 WFP. The 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan identifies 3 million people in need across the country WFP. Malnutrition levels remain critically high, with an estimated 1.6 million children expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, including 400,000 facing severe acute malnutrition WFP. Food security challenges persist despite ongoing resilience programming. The WFP-led Sahel Integrated Resilience Initiative, operating since 2018 across Niger and four neighboring countries, has reached more than four million people with efforts to restore degraded land and improve livelihoods WFP. The initiative recently received recognition as a UN World Restoration Flagship for its large-scale land restoration and food security work WFP. However, acute needs continue to outpace long-term development gains, with the lean season exacerbating vulnerabilities among affected populations. The regional environment in West and Central Africa has deteriorated significantly, with OCHA reporting escalating violence, shrinking humanitarian access, and increasingly deadly warfare methods placing millions at greater risk OCHA. In 2026 to date, five humanitarian workers have been killed, nine injured, and 14 kidnapped across the region, with national staff accounting for the majority of casualties OCHA. OCHA has called for urgent action to protect both civilians and humanitarian personnel, noting that families are being forced from their homes and children are separated from parents amid the violence OCHA. These regional protection concerns directly affect Niger's humanitarian operating environment, though specific figures for access constraints or security incidents within Niger were not provided in available reports.