Nigeria is known for its beautiful plants and animals; however, it is currently better known for tackling severe poverty. In 2022, 41.8% of Nigerians reportedly lived below the $3-a-day international extreme-poverty line, and 28.91% used safely managed drinking water services. In 2018, 28% of primary-school-age children were out of school.

Poverty is a difficult problem for any country to solve. Many nonprofit organizations and government-funded foundations have stepped in to aid Nigeria while the country’s clean water is limited and the number of Nigerians living under the international extreme-poverty line remains high. These organizations address different parts of Nigeria’s poverty crisis. Here is some information about the organizations helping Nigeria address issues pertaining to poverty.

International Rescue Committee (IRC)

The International Rescue Committee is a humanitarian organization located in 40 countries, focusing on providing safety, education and power to countries that struggle to have it. Currently, the organization helps Nigeria by:

• Providing support and aid to Nigerians who fled from the states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe due to conflict
• Distributing mosquito nets to homes to reduce malaria, which caused 84 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021
• Establishing IRC offices in poverty-stricken states to work more closely with health facilities to make water and sanitation stations more accessible

World Food Programme (WFP)

The second initiative in this list of organizations helping Nigeria is the World Food Programme (WFP). The World Food Programme is a nonprofit organization that works to bring food to about 120 countries and territories, specifically those that are victims of weather extremes, wars and natural disasters. In August 2025, the WFP reopened 150 nutrition clinics after they were suspended due to funding shortages, providing Nigerians locally sourced nutritional meals called Tom Brown to fight the country’s malnutrition. Tom Brown is blended flour made with millet, sorghum, soybeans and groundnuts. Currently, the organization helps Nigeria by:

• Strengthening nutritional social safety nets, ensuring people will have enough to eat in case of a sudden catastrophic event
• Working with the Nigerian government on climate-smart agriculture and solar boreholes
• Aiming to sustain at least 700,000 people with food and nutrition assistance each month, prioritizing children and pregnant or breastfeeding women and girls

Helpers Social Development Foundation (HSDF)

The Helpers Social Development Foundation is a nonprofit organization located in Enugu, Nigeria, focusing on eradicating one of the most crucial causes of poverty in Nigeria and other African countries: lack of education and childcare. In 2021, the foundation opened a nursery and free education school in Enugu. Currently, the organization helps Nigeria by:

• Distributing school supplies to underprivileged children for free
• Operating a free nursery and primary school for underprivileged children
• Empowering youth and women through skills training

Concluding Thoughts

These organizations that are helping Nigeria address different parts of Nigeria’s poverty crisis through health, nutrition, water, sanitation and education support. No single organization can solve poverty alone, but their work shows how targeted programs can help vulnerable communities access essential services and opportunities.

– Ares Bryant

Ares is based in Portland, OR, United States and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr