An estimated 318 million people face acute hunger next year, with 41 million in Emergency or worse (IPC Phase 4+), according to World Food Programme’s Global Outlook for 2026. WFP also stated that ending hunger by 2030 would cost just $93 billion a year — less than one per cent of the $21.9 trillion spent on military budgets over the past decade.
The report, released on Tuesday, confirmed two famines in Gaza and parts of Sudan, marking the first time in this century that a famine has struck two countries simultaneously.
International support for the world’s hungriest people is “slow, fragmented, and underfunded,” meaning that many living in the world’s trouble spots will likely be unable to receive sufficient help next year, underscored the WFP.
Sixteen hunger hotspots, from Haiti and Mali to Afghanistan and Yemen, remain at high risk. Conflict drives 69 percent of hunger, while climate shocks – droughts, floods, and storms – compound the crisis.
Syria’s crop production is down 60 per cent, and Hurricane Melissa recently devastated Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba.
“The poorest pay the ultimate price,” said Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General. “When the elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers,” she added, quoting an African proverb that is often used to convey the idea that when powerful nations, organizations, or individuals, engage in conflict, it is the weak or innocent who bear the brunt of the suffering.
In 2026, the agency plans to assist 110 million vulnerable people at an estimated cost of $13 billion, providing emergency food, nutrition support, community resilience programmes, and technical assistance to strengthen national systems.
The report adds that nearly 38 million children under 5 are acutely malnourished across 26 nutrition crises, and 12 million pregnant and breastfeeding women remain undernourished.
