The figures show that 1,081,239 people in the South East were classified in Crisis (Phase 3), significantly below the 8,716,217 recorded in the North West, which had the highest number among the zones.
The North West figure was almost three times the combined total of the South East and South South, which stood at 2,963,459 people.
The data was drawn from the October 2026 Cadre Harmonisé analysis of acute food and nutrition insecurity in 26 Nigerian states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
North West Leads Food Crisis With 8.72 Million People
StatiSense ranked the six geopolitical zones according to the number of people classified in the Crisis phase as follows:
Geopolitical zone |
People in Crisis |
|---|---|
| North West | 8,716,217 |
| North East | 5,375,418 |
| North Central | 4,755,850 |
| South West | 3,616,561 |
| South South | 1,882,220 |
| South East | 1,081,239 |
The three northern geopolitical zones accounted for a combined 18,847,485 people in the Crisis category, representing approximately 74 per cent of the total across the six zones in the StatiSense breakdown.
The North West alone recorded more people in the category than the combined South South and South East, underscoring the concentration of food insecurity in the northern part of the country.
The South East ranked lowest, followed by the South South, while the South West recorded 3.62 million people in the category.
What The Cadre Harmonisé Food Crisis Figures Mean
The Cadre Harmonisé is a regional framework used to analyse and classify acute food and nutrition insecurity. Its assessments support governments, humanitarian organisations and development partners in identifying vulnerable populations and planning interventions.
An important qualification is that the StatiSense figures represent people classified in Crisis (Phase 3) only. They exclude people in the more severe Emergency (Phase 4) and Famine or Catastrophe (Phase 5) categories.
Consequently, the figures should not be interpreted as the complete number of people experiencing severe acute food insecurity across the country.
The broader national assessment reported approximately 26.8 million people facing Crisis-level food insecurity or worse between October and December 2026. That figure includes the more severe categories and therefore is not directly comparable with the Phase 3-only zonal totals published by StatiSense.
Conflict, Displacement and Climate Pressures
Food insecurity in Nigeria is driven by several interconnected factors, including insecurity, displacement, climate-related disruptions to agricultural production, high food prices and declining household purchasing power.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in its September 2026 country brief, identified conflict and violence in parts of the North-East, North-Central and North-West as major pressures on livelihoods and market activities.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security also acknowledged climate-related challenges, including inconsistent rainfall and prolonged dry spells, in its November 2 statement on the Cadre Harmonisé assessment.
These pressures affect farmers’ ability to cultivate and harvest crops, disrupt access to markets and weaken households’ capacity to afford food.
South East Ranking Requires a Coverage Qualification
Although the South East recorded the lowest number in the StatiSense comparison, the finding must be understood within the geographical limits of the assessment.
The October 2026 analysis covered 26 states and the FCT, rather than every state in Nigeria. The official list of states included Abia and Enugu from the South East, but did not include Anambra, Ebonyi or Imo.
The South East figure therefore reflects the states covered by the assessment and should not be presented as a complete count for all five states in the geopolitical zone.
Similarly, the figures are absolute population counts, not percentages of each zone’s population. A lower number does not automatically establish that a zone has the lowest proportion of residents experiencing food insecurity.
Nevertheless, the available figures place the South East at the bottom of the six-zone ranking for the Crisis (Phase 3) category during the October–December 2026 period.
