What's New

Three consecutive years of progress in reducing global hunger demonstrate that hunger is not inevitable, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, said Tuesday at the launch of the 2026 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report.According to the SOFI report, an estimated 645 million people (7.8 percent of the global population) faced hunger in 2025. This represents nearly 14 million fewer people than in 2024 and 43 million fewer than at the 2022 peak.Food insecurity also improved substantially.

The Gaza Strip has seen some gains in food security and nutrition security since the October 2025 ceasefire was declared, thanks mostly to scaled-up humanitarian efforts. However, aid levels have fallen again since February, and the number of people in acute food insecurity is on the rise again, according to a new IPC alert.   Since October 2025, in-kind food aid and cash assistance have reached millions of people throughout the Gaza Strip. In addition, commercial imports have resumed, although they remain below the levels seen before the conflict broke out.

South Asia's food economy is one of the largest in the world. Worth more than $700 billion annually, it employs hundreds of millions of people and feeds nearly a quarter of humanity.Yet much of its economic potential never reaches the market.Every year, more than 30 percent of food produced in the region is lost  before it reaches consumers. At the same time, much of what does make it to market generates little value beyond the farm gate.

The FAO Food Price Index remained generally stable in June, with rising vegetable oil prices balanced out in large part by declines in cereal prices. The Index was 1.7 percent higher than in June 2025 but still nearly 20 percent below its March 2022 record. The Cereal Price Index fell by 3.5 percent in June but remained nearly 3 percent above its June 2026 level.

Key takeaways Developing countries are highly exposed to impacts from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, IFPRI economic modeling shows.Poverty and food insecurity rise modestly in percentage terms, but absolute numbers show a significant impact, with about 20 million more people in poverty and 2.5 million more facing undernourishment.Broader economic impacts are limited but uneven. GDP declines are generally small, but agriculture and supply chains face stronger pressures. The economic impacts flowing from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continue to reverberate, ra