A new United Nations report warns that acute food insecurity is worsening in 16 hunger hotspots across the globe, which threatens to push millions more people into famine or risk of famine, with time running out to avert widespread starvation. The report identifies armed conflict and violence, economic collapse, climate extremes, and an unprecedented decline in humanitarian funding as the main drivers of acute hunger.
The latest Hunger Hotspots report, released on Tuesday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP), reveals that conflict and violence are the primary drivers of hunger in 14 of the 16 identified hotspots. The UN report covers the period from November 2025 to May 2026.
It cites six countries and territories of the highest concern – Haiti, Mali, Palestine (Occupied Palestinian Territory), South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen – where populations are at imminent risk of catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5) or are already experiencing famine.
Six more countries – Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia and Syria – are classified as being of very high concern. The other four hotspots identified are in Burkina Faso, Chad, Kenya, and among the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
According to FAO and WFP, the international community has a narrowing window of opportunity until late 2025 to prevent mass starvation and widespread deaths in the hotspots of highest concern.
“We are on the brink of a completely preventable hunger catastrophe that threatens widespread starvation in multiple countries,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain.
“Mothers are skipping meals, so their children can eat, and families are exhausting what little they have left as they struggle to survive. We urgently need new funding and unimpeded access – a failure to act now will only drive further instability, migration, and conflict.”
Funding gaps force aid reductions, slashing of assistance
As these hunger hotspots edge closer to catastrophic conditions, or even famine, humanitarian funding is falling dangerously short. As of the end of October 2025, only US$10.5 billion out of the $29 billion required to assist the most vulnerable people this year had been received.
The report warns that severe shortfalls are crippling emergency responses, forcing deep ration cuts and reducing access to food for the most vulnerable groups, with refugee food assistance now under extreme pressure.
Assistance coverage has dropped across most hunger hotspots. WFP has been forced to tighten its targeting criteria and slash assistance for refugees and displaced people. At the same time, critical nutrition and school feeding programs have been suspended in some countries, leaving children, refugees and displaced families at extreme risk.
FAO warns that funding shortages are also critically undermining efforts to protect agricultural livelihoods, which are essential for stabilizing food production and preventing recurring crises. Without urgent financing, vital support for livelihoods, such as seeds, livestock health services and anticipatory agricultural action, will not reach communities before the planting season begins or new shocks occur.
According to the UN agency, this will erode resilience and magnify the risk of future crises. In countries identified as hunger hotspots, household food production and incomes remain insufficient to meet basic needs. Programs that build resilience are crucial in protecting livelihoods and reducing dependence on emergency aid.
Preventing famine before it’s too late
FAO and WFP emphasize that famine is almost always predictable and preventable. Together, they are calling on the international community to urgently refocus global attention on famine prevention and to ramp up investments in long-term food security and resilience.
“The world’s early warning systems work – this is fundamental for early action,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.
“We must move from reacting to crises, to preventing them. Investing in livelihoods, resilience and social protection before hunger peaks will save lives and resources.”
Dongyu added that famine prevention is not only a moral obligation, but also a sensible investment in long-term peace and stability.
“Peace is a prerequisite for food security and the right to food is a basic human right,” he said.
FAO and WFP are urging governments, donors and partner aid agencies to heed the warnings issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system and Cadre Harmonisé (CH) and to act urgently before conditions reach catastrophic thresholds.
They emphasize that anticipatory action — providing assistance before a crisis strikes to enable populations to withstand hunger shocks — saves lives and is far more cost-effective than a delayed crisis response. Sustained investments in resilience-building are also essential to protect rural livelihoods and prevent hunger from escalating.
The UN agencies also emphasize the urgent need for unimpeded humanitarian access in conflict-affected areas so life-saving food, nutrition, and agricultural assistance can reach those in need.
FAO and WFP underscore that famine is preventable, but only with political will, leadership, adequate funding, and collective accountability. Millions of lives depend on decisive action now.
Published twice a year, the Hunger Hotspots report provides early warnings and predictive analyses of deteriorating food crises in the coming months. The previous edition identified Sudan, Palestine (OPT), South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali as the situations of highest concern.
The reports are developed with financial support from the European Union through the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), which also publishes the annual Global Report on Food Crises that looks back at levels of acute hunger based on evidence from the previous year.
Winter puts displaced people at risk
As the threat of widespread hunger intensifies throughout the world, the approaching winter season in the Northern Hemisphere poses an additional, similarly perilous challenge to vulnerable populations.
Also on Tuesday, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned that millions of refugees and internally displaced people will face a grueling winter with significantly reduced assistance due to plummeting humanitarian funding, leaving many with little protection from the bitter cold.
“Humanitarian budgets are stretched to breaking point and the winter support that we offer will be much less this year,” said Dominique Hyde, UNHCR’s Director of External Relations.
“Families will have to endure freezing temperatures without things many of us take for granted: a proper roof, insulation, heating, blankets, warm clothes or medicine.”
UNHCR has launched a global winter fundraising campaign, aiming to raise at least $35 million to provide shelter repairs, insulation, blankets, warm clothing, and medicine to displaced families. The UN agency highlighted particularly dire situations in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, and Lebanon.
In Afghanistan, for example, sub-zero temperatures are already leaving many families exposed. UNHCR also points out that this will be the fourth winter of full-scale war for millions in Ukraine, including internally displaced people. Humanitarian needs continue to grow as intensifying attacks claim civilian lives and destroy infrastructure, adding to the disruption of gas, electricity, and water services.
"As temperatures plummet in the Northern Hemisphere, so is humanitarian funding," Hyde added.
“Displaced families should not have to face winter alone. Our teams are on the ground, determined to protect refugees from the cold, but we are running out of time and resources. We need more funding to help make many lives slightly more tolerable.”
Further information
Full text: Hunger Hotspots. FAO–WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity. November 2025 to May 2026 outlook, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), report, released on November 11, 2025
https://www.fightfoodcrises.net/sites/default/files/resource/file/CD7310EN.pdf
Full text: UNHCR: Millions of refugees face winter hardships with threadbare support, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), press release, published on November 11, 2025
https://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/unhcr-millions-refugees-face-winter-hardships-threadbare-support