ABUJA, Nigeria -- Weeks of flooding have killed nearly 200 people in Nigeria and washed away homes and farmlands, the country's disaster management agency said, further threatening food supplies, especially in the hard-hit northern region.

The floods, attributed to inadequate infrastructure and poorly maintained dams, have claimed the lives of 185 individuals and displaced 208,000 people across 28 of Nigeria's 36 states. The National Emergency Management Agency reported this update on Friday, prompting urgent efforts to relocate hundreds of thousands of people to makeshift shelters.

Flooding is an annual occurrence in Nigeria, primarily caused by the failure to adhere to environmental regulations and insufficient infrastructure. The most severe flooding in a decade occurred in 2022 , leading to the deaths of over 600 people and the displacement of over 1 million.

However, unlike the 2022 floods, which were attributed to excessive rainfall , the Nigerian Meteorological Agency anticipated delayed or typical rainfall patterns in most regions this year. The agency has indicated that the current floods are largely a consequence of human activities.

“The actions we are taking are causing this climate change, leading to a shift from normal weather patterns," said Ibrahim Wasiu Adeniyi, head of the central forecasting unit. "We have some who dispose of waste improperly, and others who build homes without permits along waterways,” he added.

The Nigerian disaster response agency warned that the flooding could worsen in the coming weeks as floodwaters flow southward to the central and southern states.

“People (in flood-prone areas) need to evacuate now … because we are running out of time,” its spokesperson, Manzo Ezekiel, said.

In Jigawa, the hardest-hit state, which has recorded 37 deaths, the impact of the floods has been “devastating”, and authorities are converting public buildings and schools into shelters for displaced individuals, according to Nura Abdullahi, head of emergency services in the state.

The floods have so far destroyed 107,000 hectares of farmland, especially in northern states, among the most affected regions and where most of Nigeria’s harvests originate.

Many farmers in the region are already unable to farm as much as they would like either because of decreasing inputs as families struggle amid Nigeria’s economic hardship or as a result of violent attacks that have forced them to flee.

As a consequence, Nigeria has the highest number of people experiencing hunger in the world, with 32 million — 10% of the global total — facing severe food insecurity, according to the U.N. food agency.

Resident Abdullahi Gummi in Zamfara state’s Gummi council area said the floods devastated his family's farmlands which are also their livelihood. “We spent around 300,000 naira ($188) on planting, but everything is gone," Gummi said.

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Mohammed Ibrahim in Kaduna, Nigeria, contributed.

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