A joint report by the FAO and the WFP projects a severe humanitarian deterioration until May 2026, pointing to armed conflicts and climatic phenomena as the main triggers of food insecurity.
The main humanitarian agencies of the United Nations have issued a severe warning to the international community: the world faces an imminent worsening of acute food insecurity. According to the latest projections, nutritional stability in 16 key countries and territories will suffer a drastic deterioration from the current date until May 2026, putting the survival of millions of people at risk if immediate actions are not taken.
The report, prepared in collaboration by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), emphasizes that the time to intervene is running out. The lack of response will not only increase preventable mortality figures but also threatens to destabilize entire regions at a geopolitical level.
Zones of imminent disaster
The document identifies six geographical points where the situation is critical and the risk of food catastrophe or direct famine is imminent. Palestine, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, Mali, and Yemen top the maximum alert list.
In these territories, segments of the population are already on the brink of starvation or face conditions close to famine, technically classified in phases 4 (emergency) and 5 (catastrophe) of the food security classification.
In addition to these red spots, the agencies expressed deep concern about the deterioration in countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Nigeria, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Other critical points such as Chad, Burkina Faso, Kenya, and the Rohingya refugee settlements in Bangladesh are also under special surveillance.
The four drivers of the crisis
The UN analysis breaks down the causes of this emergency into four structural factors that, combined, are eroding the livelihood capacity of families:
- Conflict and violence: Identified as the root cause in 14 of the 16 territories analyzed, war remains the greatest destroyer of food security.
- Climatic phenomena: The persistence of extreme events such as droughts, cyclones, and floods, exacerbated by the La Niña phenomenon, has devastated agricultural production.
- Economic collapse: Unsustainable external debt and inflation in food prices have weakened local economies.
- Humanitarian funding deficit: The reduction in international funds has forced agencies to cut rations and limit vital nutrition programs.
Dongyu Qu, Director-General of the FAO, emphasized that although conflicts lead the causes, economic and climatic instability are eliminating the safety nets of the most vulnerable populations.
A call to political action
Despite the grim outlook, the message from the organizations is that fatality is not the only possible destiny. Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the WFP, assured that the global community possesses the necessary technical tools and knowledge to halt this trend. However, she stressed that what is lacking is “political will and resources” to implement solutions before it is too late.
Inaction has a direct human cost, especially in childhood, where malnutrition opens the door to deadly diseases by compromising the immune system. To avoid this scenario, the FAO and the WFP are calling for a triple strategy: immediate humanitarian assistance to save lives, anticipatory measures before crises escalate, and robust investment in resilience to tackle the root causes of food insecurity, not just its symptoms.
