About 191.2 million Nigerians were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2025 as rising food costs continued to push adequate nutrition beyond the reach of millions, according to a new United Nations (UN) report.

The 2026 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report revealed that the number of Nigerians who could not afford a healthy diet increased from 137.5 million in 2017 to 191.2 million in 2025, underscoring the growing impact of food inflation on household nutrition.

The report also showed that the minimum daily cost of a healthy diet in Nigeria rose from $2.78 to $4.17 in purchasing power parity (PPP) per person over the eight-year period.

It defined a healthy diet as one that is diverse, balanced and nutritionally adequate, comprising foods from six major groups: starchy staples, animal-source foods, legumes, nuts and seeds, vegetables, fruits, and oils and fats.

According to the report, the affordability of a healthy diet was assessed using the minimum daily cost of purchasing locally available foods that meet nutritional requirements.

The UN agencies noted that 66.6 per cent of Africa’s population could not afford a healthy diet in 2025, compared with 28.9 per cent in Asia and 25.7 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean. While affordability has improved in other regions, it has continued to worsen across Africa.

The report also found that Africa has overtaken Asia as the region with the highest number of people experiencing hunger.

It estimated that 309 million Africans, representing 20 per cent of the continent’s population, faced hunger in 2025, compared with 292 million in Asia and 32 million in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“The share of the global number of people estimated to be facing hunger who live in Africa has grown since 2010, surpassing Asia in 2025,” the report stated.

Globally, between 608 million and 696 million people were estimated to have experienced hunger in 2025. Using the midpoint estimate, about 645 million people faced hunger, representing a decline of 14 million from 2024 and 43 million from 2022.

The report attributed the gradual global improvement to recovery from the economic and social disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic but warned that conflicts, climate-related shocks and declining humanitarian assistance could reverse recent gains.

It projected that although the number of undernourished people worldwide could fall by 20 per cent by 2030, between 510 million and 520 million people would still face hunger, with Africa expected to account for 56 per cent of the global total.

The report further noted that 2025 marked Africa’s first improvement in food insecurity levels since 2015, with the proportion of people experiencing hunger declining slightly from 20.3 per cent in 2024 to 20 per cent in 2025. However, rapid population growth meant the total number of hungry people on the continent continued to rise.

It also found that 2.1 billion people, representing 25.8 per cent of the world’s population, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025, down from 27.1 per cent in 2024 and 28.7 per cent in 2020.

The report noted that rural communities and women remained disproportionately affected by food insecurity.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 report was jointly produced by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organisation (WHO), which warned that worsening conflicts, extreme weather events and shrinking humanitarian funding continue to threaten global food security, particularly in vulnerable regions. (LEADERSHIP)

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