Two major United Nations food agencies issued a stark warning Wednesday that acute hunger is expected to get worse across 13 global crisis zones over the coming months, driven by ongoing conflict, deep cuts to humanitarian funding, and climate-related disasters.
The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program released a joint report projecting that conditions will deteriorate between June and November 2026. Approximately 266 million people are already experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, and the agencies are urging immediate action from the international community.
The report identified Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, and Palestine as the countries of greatest concern. Nigeria and Somalia have now been added to that top-concern category as conditions in those nations continue to deteriorate and the risk of famine grows.
According to the agencies, conflict and violence are the primary forces driving hunger in nearly every one of the identified hot spots. Those pressures are being made worse by economic instability, steep reductions in humanitarian aid funding, and the anticipated effects of an El Niño weather pattern that could bring droughts and floods to already vulnerable regions.
Funding for food assistance programs has fallen dramatically — dropping roughly 59% since 2022 — even as the number of people in need has climbed, the report noted.
WFP Acting Executive Director Carl Skau stressed the urgency of the situation. “The warnings in this report cannot be ignored,” he said. “Without action now, millions more are expected to face worsening levels of hunger in the months ahead, pushing some closer to famine.”
In the Gaza Strip, a ceasefire reached in October 2025 has led to some improvement, but the situation remains unstable. Earlier this year, approximately 1.6 million people — about 77% of the population studied — were found to be acutely food insecure and in need of immediate help. That figure includes more than half a million people at emergency levels and a smaller number facing catastrophic conditions.
Officials also flagged additional threats worsening the overall outlook, including ripple effects from the broader Middle East conflict and an Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, both of which are disrupting local markets, livelihoods, and the ability of aid organizations to reach people in need.
The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program jointly called for fast, coordinated global action to expand aid delivery, protect people’s livelihoods, and stop conditions from deteriorating further. Without swift intervention, the agencies warned, millions more could face catastrophic levels of hunger in the months to come.
