Global Acute Food Insecurity Persists at Record Levels, with Dual Famines and Declining Humanitarian Funding in 2025
Introduction
The 2026 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), compiled by a coalition of 18 humanitarian and development partners including UN agencies and the EU, documents that approximately 266 million individuals across 47 territories experienced acute food insecurity or worse in 2025. For the first time in the report's ten-year history, famine conditions were confirmed in two separate conflict-affected areas—parts of the Gaza Strip and Sudan—within the same year. The report further indicates that the proportion of analysed populations facing acute hunger has remained above 20% annually since 2020, nearly double the 11.3% recorded in 2016.
Main Body
The report identifies conflict and violence as the primary driver of acute food insecurity, affecting 147.4 million people across 19 countries—more than half of all individuals facing severe hunger globally. Weather extremes were the principal factor in 16 countries (87.5 million people), while economic shocks led in 12 countries (29.8 million). Ten nations—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen—accounted for two-thirds of all people experiencing high levels of acute hunger. Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo topped the list in absolute numbers, while Gaza and South Sudan had the highest share of their populations affected. At the most extreme end of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) scale, 1.4 million people across six territories faced catastrophic conditions (Phase 5) in 2025—a more than ninefold increase since 2016. The Gaza Strip recorded 640,700 individuals in famine conditions (32% of its population), the highest share globally, followed by Sudan with 637,200 (1% of its population). Other locations with catastrophic shortages included South Sudan (83,500), Yemen (41,200), Haiti (8,400), and Mali (2,600). Additionally, over 39 million people in 32 countries were classified in emergency conditions (Phase 4). Child malnutrition figures were severe: 35.5 million children were acutely malnourished across 23 countries, including nearly 10 million suffering from severe acute malnutrition—a life-threatening condition. A further 25.7 million children experienced moderate acute malnutrition, and 9.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women were acutely malnourished. Forced displacement compounded the crisis, with 85.1 million people displaced across food-crisis contexts; internally displaced persons constituted 62.6 million, while refugees and asylum seekers numbered 22.5 million. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih noted that forced displacement and food insecurity form a vicious cycle that humanitarian aid alone cannot break. Humanitarian and development financing for food and nutrition responses declined sharply in 2025, falling to levels last seen in 2016–2017. According to the report, humanitarian food-sector funding dropped by approximately 39% from 2024, while development assistance contracted by at least 15%. The United States drove three-quarters of the overall decline in aid from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), cutting its contributions by 57%, which resulted in Germany ($29.1 billion) surpassing the US ($29 billion) as the largest donor for the first time. Other major donors also reduced aid: Germany by 17.4%, France by 10.9%, the United Kingdom by 10.8%, and Japan by 5.6%. The report warns that this funding contraction will limit the capacity of governments and humanitarian actors to respond effectively to ongoing crises. Looking ahead to 2026, the report projects that severity levels will remain critical in multiple contexts. Ongoing conflicts, climate variability, and global economic uncertainty—including risks from the conflict in the Middle East—are expected to sustain or worsen conditions. The US-Israeli war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have added new pressures, with potential disruptions to energy and fertiliser trade that could spill over into global food markets. Alvaro Lario, head of the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development, cautioned that even if the conflict ended immediately, food price shocks and inflation would likely persist for six months. In West Africa and the Sahel, conflict and persistent inflation are expected to keep pressure on Nigeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso; Nigeria alone is projected to see an additional 4.1 million people facing acute hunger in 2026. In East Africa, failed rains across the Horn of Africa are expected to deepen suffering in Somalia and Kenya, where drought, insecurity, high food prices, and reduced aid are likely to drive worsening conditions. The report also notes that data gaps are growing, with the number of countries able to produce reliable food security assessments at its lowest level in a decade, suggesting the true scale of hunger may be underestimated.
Conclusion
The 2026 Global Report on Food Crises underscores that acute food insecurity has become a persistent and structurally entrenched global challenge, concentrated in conflict-affected countries and exacerbated by declining international funding. Without a sustained effort to address the underlying drivers—particularly conflict resolution and increased investment in both humanitarian aid and local food production—the world’s most fragile nations are likely to continue bearing a disproportionate share of the hunger burden through 2026 and beyond.