Half a million refugees and vulnerable Cameroonians could soon lose access to humanitarian food assistance as resources reach critically low levels, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. Without urgent new funding, WFP will be forced to halt life-saving food aid at the end of August for over 240,000 people who fled conflict in Cameroon. More than 200,000 mothers and children will also lose vital nutrition support, while school meals for 60,000 children are set to stop, threatening their health, education, and long-term prospects.
The crisis has already begun to unfold. In July, WFP was compelled to cut assistance to 26,000 Nigerian refugees in the Minawao camp in northern Cameroon, while refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) in Gado Camp are now receiving only half of their daily food needs. Families are being pushed to skip meals or sell what little they own to survive. WFP Country Director Gianluca Ferrera described the situation as a “critical tipping point,” warning that without immediate funding, children will go hungry, families will suffer, and lives will be lost.
So far in 2025, WFP has delivered food assistance to 523,000 people, including internally displaced families, Nigerian and CAR refugees, and vulnerable host communities. Nearly 300,000 women and children have benefited from nutrition programmes and school meals, which have helped stabilize fragile regions, improve education outcomes, and prevent hunger from worsening. However, WFP cautions that without fresh funding, these hard-won gains risk being reversed.
Food insecurity is already on the rise in Cameroon. According to the March 2025 Cadre Harmonisé analysis, 2.6 million people are projected to face acute food insecurity between June and August—an increase of six percent from last year—with the Far North and Northwest regions most severely affected. To continue lifesaving operations between August 2025 and January 2026, WFP requires an additional US$65.5 million. Without it, the humanitarian situation could deteriorate sharply, erasing progress and deepening the crisis.
