The United Nations has identified 13 countries and territories where food insecurity is expected to deteriorate significantly between June and November 2026, with Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Palestine, Nigeria, and Somalia representing the most acute crises, according to a new Hunger Hotspots report released jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme.
Conflict driving hunger in nearly every hotspot
Conflict is the dominant cause of hunger in 12 of the 13 identified hotspots, and the report makes clear that shrinking aid budgets are making a bad situation worse. Funding for food assistance, emergency farming programs, and nutrition responses in crisis settings fell by an estimated 59 percent between 2022 and 2025, returning to levels not seen in nearly a decade. About 266 million people across the affected countries are currently facing severe food insecurity.
WFP Acting Executive Director Carl Skau put the human reality of those numbers plainly.
“Conflict, shocks, and disasters are forcing families to make impossible decisions about who gets to eat and who goes to bed hungry,” he said.
Sudan remains the worst hunger crisis in the world, with famine risks across parts of Darfur and South Kordofan expected to persist into early 2027. Nigeria and Somalia were upgraded to the highest-risk category, with catastrophic hunger forecast in parts of Borno State and famine risks identified in Somalia’s Burhakaba District. In Gaza, conditions remain fragile despite some improvement since the October 2025 ceasefire, with over 1.6 million people previously assessed as needing urgent food support.
Aid cuts threatens response
FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol stressed the importance of timing. “The challenge is whether we act early enough and at the necessary scale,” she said. FAO Director Rein Paulsen told reporters at UN Headquarters that as of June 2026, only about a third of prioritized food security funding requirements globally had been met, forcing extremely difficult choices about where and how to respond.
FAO noted that emergency agriculture support remains one of the most cost-effective interventions available, helping families continue producing food and reducing their dependence on aid over time. Organizations combating hunger and malnutrition have long made the case that agricultural investment during crises prevents deeper food emergencies down the line.
The report also flagged compounding risks. The ongoing Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC and conflict in the Middle East threaten to disrupt markets and humanitarian access further, while a possible El Niño event could bring drought and flooding to already vulnerable regions. Economic shocks, climate variability, and reduced donor commitment are converging in ways that leave the agencies with fewer tools to respond. The World Food Programme, which assisted more than 124 million people in 2024, has consistently warned that funding shortfalls force it to make impossible trade-offs between who receives assistance and who does not.
FAO and WFP called on governments and donors to act now before conditions deteriorate further.