Conflict, drought and declining aid will keep global hunger at critical levels in 2026, with food insecurity expected to worsen in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries, according to the World Food Crisis Report 2026.
The 10th edition of the Hunger Monitor, published by a coalition of humanitarian and development organizations, notes that acute hunger has doubled in the last decade, with two famines declared last year for the first time in the report’s history: in Gaza and Sudan.
In total, 266 million people in 47 countries and territories faced high levels of acute food insecurity in 2025, while 1.4 million people suffered catastrophic conditions in parts of Haiti, Mali, Gaza, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.
In 2025 alone, 35.5 million children worldwide suffered from acute malnutrition, including almost 10 million who suffered from severe acute malnutrition.
According to the report, this year the severity of the situation remains critical, and only Haiti is expected to escape the worst category, “catastrophic,” thanks to a slight improvement in security and an increase in humanitarian aid.
“We no longer see only temporary crises, but persistent crises over time,” said Álvaro Lario, director of the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development, which collaborates in preparing the annual report.
“The main message is that food insecurity is no longer an isolated problem, but is putting pressure on global stability,” he told Reuters.
“The main message is that food insecurity is no longer an isolated problem, but is putting pressure on global stability”
Iran’s offensive complicates matters
The US-Israel war against Iran has raised alarm, Lario said, warning that a prolonged disruption to energy and fertilizer trade could impact global food markets and worsen hunger in import-dependent countries already in crisis.
“Even if the conflict in the Middle East ended right now, we know that many of the food price and inflation crises will occur in the next six months,” he concluded.
“Even if the conflict in the Middle East ended right now, we know that many of the food price and inflation crises will occur in the next six months”
Even before the added pressure of this latest war, West Africa and the Sahel were already shaping up to remain under severe pressure this year due to conflict and persistent inflation, especially in Nigeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
Nigeria alone is projected to have one of the largest increases in food insecurity in 2026, with 4.1 million more people facing acute hunger.
In East Africa, the lack of rain in much of the Horn of Africa is expected to exacerbate suffering in Somalia and Kenya, where drought, insecurity, high food prices and reduced humanitarian aid are likely to exacerbate conditions.
The report also warned that humanitarian and development funding for food sectors in crisis decreased sharply in 2025 and is expected to continue to decline.
Humanitarian funding for the food sector is estimated to have fallen by 39% last year from 2024 levels, while development assistance contracted by at least 15%.
