Looming lean season draws new UN and Nigeria gov plans to mitigate nutrition crisis

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is worried that the upcoming lean period will worsen the alarming humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY) states. In response, the Nigerian government launched a multisector plan for these states focused on urgent food security. 

“The health and nutrition sectors have been particularly impacted, with up to 70% of health services and 50% of nutrition services affected, threatening gains in malnutrition prevention and treatment,” reveals OCHA. 

“This is happening as the 2025 lean season (June to September) approaches, when an estimated 4.6 million people in the BAY states are projected to face critical food insecurity, marking the sixth consecutive year of severe conditions. As a result, millions of children are at risk of acute malnutrition, and about 280,000 are at risk of death.”

The government’s plan combines food assistance, nutrition, health, water and sanitation, protection, agriculture, and early recovery. The government says it will lead the national policy-aligned response and stresses goals for long-term recovery instead of a one-off intervention.

“Behind every data point is a mother skipping meals so her children can eat, a farmer whose fields are dry and unsafe, and a child whose physical and cognitive development is already compromised by hunger,” says the government.

The Nigerian government will use the geotagged National Social Register to enable real-time vulnerability mapping.Amid cuts to donor funding and a lack of resources, OCHA worries that the impending food security for 4.6 million people will lead to gender-based violence and negative coping mechanisms. The region suffers from acute malnutrition, including 2.6 million children under five.

OCHA’s six-month plan 

OCHA has launched a six-month operational plan on immediate and focused response strategies to prevent the situation from deteriorating.

It is also seeking US$159 million immediately to address urgent issues. “Timely food assistance, nutrition, healthcare, and other support, including emergency agriculture interventions, must be fast-tracked in northeast Nigeria and other parts of the country in critical need.”

“Expected flooding in the rainy season, which coincides with the lean season, will displace communities, contaminate water sources, damage sanitation infrastructure, and restrict access to healthcare. This combination significantly elevates the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera and diarrhea and vector-borne diseases such as malaria.”

Unity to go beyond feeding

The government of Nigeria states that BAY states don’t just face a humanitarian issue, but a moral one. “It is a challenge to the promise of the Renewed Hope Agenda. And it is a test of our capacity to act not when it is convenient, but when it is necessary.”

OCHA warns that around 4.6 million people in the BAY states will face food insecurity during the lean season.It adds that past lessons and innovation inform its plan. For instance, it uses the geotagged National Social Register to enable real-time vulnerability mapping. This will allow the aid to reach displaced people and host communities more effectively. 

“The federal government will lead from the front — not just in coordinating this response but in ensuring alignment with national policy, clarity of roles, and accountability of outcomes. We will support state structures, empower frontline actors, and ensure every kobo is traceable and impactful,” it states.

The government calls upon international and local partners for continued support and alignment. “Alignment with national systems, with state authorities, and with the people whose resilience we are here to reinforce — not replace.”

“It is not enough to feed — we must also restore livelihoods, rebuild health, and reclaim futures. I invite all of us to move beyond silos, to rise above mandates, and to act in unity — because the cost of inaction will be counted not just in numbers, but in names, faces, and futures lost.”

As calls grow to decolonize African food systems, advocates push beyond aid and exports, calling for a change in the narrative to nourishment. Nutrition Insight explored how trade and aid policies affect African food systems and why local control and nutrition must come first. 

We also spoke to Aries Consult about the importance of policy intervention, gender-responsive land reforms, climate-resilient crop diversification, and African hybrid technologies.

Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders warned that Sudan’s upcoming rainy season threatens to cut off access to communities already facing severe food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly in Darfur.