The United Nations World Food Programme says it spent approximately $5 million, or N7.4 billion, on shock-response and social protection in Nigeria in 2025.

The acting country director of WFP, Serigne Loum, said this at the inauguration of the Shock-Responsive Social Protection Technical Working Group and Validation of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) workshop in Abuja on Thursday.

The programme organised by WFP in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction had as its theme: “Leveraging Social Safety Nets for Emergency and Disaster Response”.

He assured that WFP would scale up its financial commitment and interventions in 2026 to cover more targets.

Mr Loum, who noted that no fewer than 35 million people in Nigeria are food-insecure, said most of them were from the north-east.

“Last year, WFP was able to provide unprepared action support to 70,000 people in Adamawa who were affected by the flood. The assistance provided was very timely and allowed them to take some preventive actions before the flood hit.

“This year, we are aiming to increase that number, maybe reaching 80,000 people for unprepared action and also more people for social protection,” he said.

Mr Loum said that WFP was committed to achieving zero hunger through its operations and by providing technical support to strengthen government systems in social protection, anticipatory action, emergency response, and policy coherence.

“Nigeria has one of the largest social registers of poor and vulnerable households in the region. Unfortunately, the country has also been experiencing multiple crises and shocks for over a decade, which has overstretched both the national disaster agencies and the humanitarian partners.

“Therefore, Nigeria is setting a standard if the SOP protocol is effectively operationalised. Nigeria will be a standard reference point for peer learning in Africa and beyond,” he said.

Olubunmi Olusanya, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, said Nigeria continued to face economic and conflict-related challenges, as well as floods and droughts that disrupt the economy.

Mr Olusanya said that the shocks threaten life-sustaining ventures, thereby hampering growth and development. According to him, shock-responsive social protection has become not only relevant but also enables anticipation, preparation for, and response to situations.

“The validation of SRSP marks the quickest step forward. This system promotes coherence between material intervention indicators, including governance and organisations, to better serve the vulnerable populations.

“They provide a practical tool to protect coordination and clarify roles without encroaching on institutional matters and promote efficiency, transparency, and adaptability in response,” he said.

(NAN)