The 2026 Global Report on Food Crises warns that conflict, drought, and shrinking aid will maintain global hunger at critical levels through 2026. Last year, approximately 266 million people across 47 territories were in a state of food crisis or worse. Acute hunger has doubled over the past decade, and for the first time in the report’s history, two famines were declared in 2025.
Conflict remains the primary driver of hunger, affecting nearly 150 million people facing acute food shortages. Along with climate variability and global economic uncertainty, the war in the Middle East risks exacerbating existing crises by driving up fertilizer costs and increasing the number of displaced people in a region already hosting millions of refugees.
While some improvements were seen in countries like Bangladesh and Syria, these gains were almost fully offset by notable deteriorations in Afghanistan, Congo, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe. Experts warn that food insecurity is expected to worsen in some of the world's most fragile countries, further compounded by a sharp decline in humanitarian aid funding.