A new United Nations report - out this week - warns that the spread of conflict, armed violence, climate hazards and economic stress are driving severe hunger and, in some cases, famine conditions in 22 countries and territories, with no likelihood of improvement in the next six months. Acute food insecurity in these hotspots will increase in scale and severity, pushing millions of people to the brink.
The early warning report, published jointly by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), sheds light on the regional impact of the crisis in Gaza, which has engulfed Lebanon in conflict, and warns that the La Niña weather pattern could influence the climate by March 2025, threatening fragile food systems in already vulnerable regions.
“So, you have conflict impacts, climate impacts in the same countries, as well as both the combination of the two turns into economic devastation for people,” Arif Husain, WFP chief economist, said of the main drivers of the hunger crises to reporters in a video briefing on Thursday.
The Hunger Hotspots report warns that without immediate humanitarian action and concerted efforts to overcome severe access constraints and resolve ongoing conflicts, more people are likely to starve and die.
In 14 of the 16 hunger hotspots identified in the report, armed violence is considered a key driver of acute food insecurity, often exacerbated by economic downturns and extreme weather events.
The situation is most severe in the Gaza Strip, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali, where millions of people face the highest levels of food insecurity - meaning famine, threat of famine or starvation.
For months, UN agencies have been warning about the critical situation in Gaza. It is fueled by Israel's nearly 13-month war on Gaza, which has made it dangerous and difficult for humanitarian agencies to deliver food and other assistance to some 2 million Palestinians who are trapped in the crossfire.
WFP's Husain said 91 percent of Gazans are at crisis levels or worse for hunger, with about 345,000 of them in famine-like conditions. Another 876,000 people, or 41 percent of the population, are one step behind them in Phase 4 (emergency) of food insecurity.
“And the report says basically that there is a risk — there's a persistent risk — of famine for the entire Gaza Strip,” Husain said.
In Sudan, the situation is even worse because the number of people is dramatically higher, with 26 million people facing acute hunger.
“Time is running out to save lives,” Rein Paulsen, director of the FAO Office of Emergencies and Resilience, told reporters from Sudan.
“People are facing total collapse of livelihoods and starvation in areas where conflict is hitting the hardest across the country, including in Darfur, in [Al] Jazira, in Khartoum and in Kordofan,” he said.
Paulsen noted that two months ago, famine levels of food insecurity were reported in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur, where several hundred thousand internally displaced people (IDPs) are sheltering. Fighting in the region has escalated in recent months between the army and a rival paramilitary group.
“And those famine conditions are likely — highly likely — to persist unless something changes,” he said.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned Tuesday that the suffering in Sudan is growing by the day and that more attention needs to be paid to Sudan's underreported conflict
“Frankly, half of the population now needs help. People do not have access to shelter. They do not have access to clean drinking water. They do not have health care. Disease is spreading fast. One in every two Sudanese is struggling to get even the minimal amount of food to survive,” Amy Pope, IOM director general, told journalists.
Meanwhile, in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is in the grip of a severe hunger crisis due to rampant violence by armed gangs whose kidnappings, killings, rapes and looting have made Haitians in the capital and some outlying areas afraid to leave their homes.
Two million people do not have enough to eat and are in the grips of emergency hunger (IPC Phase 4), and about 6,000 of them are experiencing famine-level food insecurity, Paulsen said.
“Immediate action is imperative to save lives, to prevent starvation, and to help vulnerable populations restore their livelihoods amidst unprecedented violence and displacement,” he added.
In Africa, Mali and South Sudan also top the list of hunger hotspots. WFP's Husain said about 2,500 people are at catastrophic or famine levels of hunger in Mali, and another 121,000 are right behind them, experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity. In the Central Sahel, violence by non-state armed groups and growing insecurity continue to escalate.
In South Sudan, which has been affected by the war in Sudan and severe flooding, the number of people at risk of hunger and death is projected to nearly double to 2.3 million between April and July, compared to the same period in 2023, according to the report. Hunger is expected to worsen when the next lean season begins in May.
On Friday, the World Food Programme made an urgent appeal to donors to provide early funding for next year's operations in South Sudan so that the UN agency can pre-position food to prevent spiraling operational costs and hunger through 2025 by avoiding expensive and inefficient airdrops.
A step behind these most affected countries are those of "very high concern" to humanitarians, including Chad, Lebanon, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Syria and Yemen.
“These are classified and categorized in this context where we have a high number of people facing particular acute food insecurity, and where we also see drivers that are expected to further intensify life-threatening conditions in the coming months,” Paulsen said.
Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia and Niger are new to the list of hunger hotspots this year, joining Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
WFP's Husain said humanitarians need both resources and safe access to help the millions of people in need and to reduce high rates of hunger and malnutrition.
“Worldwide, conflicts are escalating, economic instability is rising, and climate disasters are becoming the new norm. With more effective political and financial support, humanitarians can and will continue to implement proven and scalable solutions to address hunger and reduce needs over the long term,” said Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director, in a statement.
“It’s time for world leaders to step up and work with us to reach the millions of people at risk of starvation – delivering diplomatic solutions to conflicts, using their influence to enable humanitarians to work safely, and mobilizing the resources and partnerships needed to halt global hunger in its tracks,” McCain added.
According to the early warning report, Palestine, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali remain on the highest alert and require the most urgent attention. Conflict is the key driver of hunger in all of these areas.
Chad, Lebanon, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Syria and Yemen are hotspots of very high concern, with large numbers of people facing critical acute food insecurity, coupled with worsening drivers that are expected to further exacerbate life-threatening conditions in the coming months.
Since the previous edition of the report, released in June 2024, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia and Niger have joined Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia, Zambia and Zimbabwe as hunger hotspots where acute food insecurity is expected to worsen further during the outlook period between November 2024 and May 2025.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.
Further information
Full text: Hunger Hotspots – FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity - November 2024 to May 2025 Outlook, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), report, published October 31, 2024
https://www.fightfoodcrises.net/sites/default/files/resource/file/HH_Nov24-May25_FINAL.pdf