Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa with almost 196 million people in 2018 (UNICEF 2019). With a high fertility rate of 5.4 children per woman, the population is growing at an annual rate of 2.6 percent, exacerbating population density. By 2050, Nigeria’s population is expected to grow to a staggering 401 million, which will make it the third most populous country in the world, after India and China (PRB 2019). Nigeria has one of the highest urban population growth rates in the world at 4.7 percent (UNICEF 2019).
Currently, Nigeria ranks 159th out of 162 countries in progress toward meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Sachs et al. 2019). According to the most recent Demographic and Health Survey in Nigeria (2018), the lifetime risk of maternal death related to pregnancy or childbearing is 1 in 30 women. The number of infants who die between 28 days and one year of age is 28 per 1,000 live births in Nigeria, and one child in every eight will not survive to their fifth birthday (NPC and ICF International 2019).
According to the World Bank (2019), Nigeria’s economy is the largest in Africa and is well-positioned to play a leading role in the global economy. Nigeria’s economy largely depends on its expansive oil and gas reserves. The sharp decline in oil prices beginning in 2014 posed major challenges to the country’s finances. However, with a renewed focus on economic diversification and promoting growth in the private sector, the gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.9 percent in 2018, with the agriculture industry accounting for approximately 25 percent of the total GDP in 2018 (World Bank 2019; Central Bank of Nigeria 2013).
The national elections, held in 2015, marked the first time in Nigeria’s history that it saw a peaceful transfer of power between two political parties. In 2019, the country held national elections for the sixth time since 1999. The current administration, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, in his second term, identifies fighting corruption, increasing security, tackling unemployment, diversifying the economy, enhancing climate resilience, and boosting the living standards of Nigerians as its main policy priorities (World Bank 2019). The country is also facing a major challenge and threat in the northeast from the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which is destroying infrastructure and conducting assassinations and abductions. As of late 2019, conflict in northeastern Nigeria had displaced more than 1.8 million people within the country and forced nearly 240,000 people to flee into neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, straining food resources in the region. Violence has disrupted agricultural and income-generating activities, reducing household purchasing power and access to food. Humanitarian assistance to populations in areas of northeastern Nigeria is limited and a risk of famine persists in areas inaccessible to relief actors. The security situation in Nigeria has further deteriorated due to escalating violence between herders and farmers in the middle belt and northwest regions, as well as attacks by roving gangs of bandits in the northwest (USAID 2020).
