UN food agencies warned Thursday of worsening hunger levels over the next seven months in many parts of the world, with Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, Mali and Haiti the most worrying.
Conflict and armed violence cause most of the acute food insecurity in all regions analyzed in the biannual report of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and of the World Food Program (WFP).
Extreme weather is a significant factor in other regions, while economic inequality and high debt levels in many developing countries undermine governments’ ability to respond, according to the joint report covering the period from November 2024 to May 2025.
Humanitarian action is urgently needed to prevent famine and death in the Gaza Strip, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali, says the report, which draws on research from experts in two UN agencies based in Rome.
“In the absence of immediate humanitarian efforts and concerted international action to address serious access constraints and aimed at de-escalating conflict and insecurity, famine and loss of life are likely to occur. worsen » in these regions, the report is alarmed.
Nigeria, Chad, Yemen, Mozambique, Burma, Syria and Lebanon are also in a very worrying situation.
The report focuses on “the most serious situations” and therefore does not represent “all countries/territories experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity”recall the authors.
The year 2024 is the second consecutive year of declining funding for humanitarian aid and twelve plans in the food security sector faced funding gaps of more than 75% in countries such as Ethiopia, Yemen, Syria and Burma.
The worst is yet to come
Levels of food insecurity are measured on a scale of 1 to 5, the latter level corresponding to a situation of « catastrophe ».
In the Gaza Strip, the resurgence of recent hostilities raises fears that the scenario « catastrophe » famine materializes, according to the report.
Around 41% of the population, or 876,000 people, will face famine levels “emergency”level 4, from November to the end of April, while nearly 16%, or 345,000 people, will experience levels « catastrophe »according to the report.
As of mid-October, 1.9 million people, or 91% of Gaza’s population, were displaced.
In Sudan, hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict will continue to face famine, according to the same source.
In South Sudan, the number of people facing starvation and death is already expected to have almost doubled in the four months between April and July 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
But these figures could worsen from May 2025 with the period which follows and precedes two harvests.
According to the report, more than a million people have been affected by severe flooding this month in South Sudan, a chronically unstable country plagued by violence and economic stagnation.
Similarly, armed violence in Haiti, combined with a persistent economic crisis and hurricanes, risks worsening already critical levels of hunger.
The escalation of the conflict in Mali, where the UN withdrew its peacekeeping mission in 2023, risks worsening already critical levels with armed groups imposing roadblocks and preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The direct and indirect effects of conflict on food insecurity are considerable, according to the report, and go well beyond the destruction of livestock and crops.
Conflicts force populations to flee their homes, “disrupting livelihoods and incomes, limiting access to markets and leading to price fluctuations and irregular food production and consumption”.
In some regions considered to be of concern, extreme weather conditions caused by the possible reappearance this winter of La Niña, a natural climatic phenomenon that can either trigger heavy rains or worsen droughts and heat waves, could exacerbate food crises, according to the report.