UN food agencies warn millions face famine as conflict and funding gaps worsen hunger in countries including Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria, and Palestine
Two UN food agencies have warned that millions more people could face famine worldwide, as conflict, violence, and funding shortfalls worsen already dire humanitarian conditions.
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In a joint report released on Wednesday, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said hunger was rising sharply in multiple regions, driven primarily by armed conflict and economic instability.
The Rome-based agencies identified Haiti, Mali, Palestine, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen as facing the most severe threat, warning that populations in these countries were at “imminent risk of catastrophic hunger.”
Other countries of *“very high concern”* include Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, and Syria, while Burkina Faso, Chad, Kenya, and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh were also listed as highly vulnerable.
“We are on the brink of a completely preventable hunger catastrophe that threatens widespread starvation in multiple countries,”
said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain, cautioning that failure to act “will only drive further instability, migration, and conflict.”
The report revealed that humanitarian funding had fallen dangerously short, with only $10.5 billion received out of the $29 billion required to assist those at risk.
As a result, the WFP has reduced food assistance for refugees and displaced people, and suspended school feeding programmes in several countries.
Meanwhile, the FAO warned that the protection of agricultural livelihoods—vital to stabilising food production—was under severe threat.
“Seeds and livestock health services must be supported before planting seasons begin or new shocks occur,” the FAO urged, stressing that preventing further collapse in local food systems was essential to averting a wider crisis.
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Both agencies called for urgent global support to close funding gaps and strengthen humanitarian operations before famine takes hold across multiple regions.
