Nutrition

A new alert from IPC reports that over 5.83 million Haitians—more than half the country’s population—will experience acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) by June 2026. That includes almost 1.9 million people in emergency levels of food insecurity. While these numbers show evidence of slight improvement from IPC estimates published in September 2025, the latest alert emphasizes that these improvements are highly localized.

Food security conditions in the Gaza Strip have improved since August when the IPC Famine Review Committee confirmed the existence of famine conditions. Despite this improvement, however, 1.6 million people—most of Gaza’s population—still face unacceptably high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the IPC’s latest alert.

The chance to prevent widespread famine in the Gaza Strip has passed, according to the IPC Famine Review Committee (FRC). The prolonged food crisis in Gaza reached an unprecedented and devastating level in July and August, with the FRC confirming famine in Gaza Governate and projecting famine thresholds to be crossed in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis Governates in the coming weeks. This latest update places more than half a million people at risk of starvation.

The realities of a changing climate are becoming increasingly clear, with temperatures rising around the world and extreme weather events, like flooding and droughts, becoming more and more frequent. April 2025 was the second hottest April globally on record, and evidence suggests such anomalous high temperatures could become the norm rather than the exception.

In recent years, it has become increasingly recognized that true food and nutrition security depend not just on consumption of an adequate caloric quantity of food but also on consumption of the right types of food. A healthy diet—which the WHO and FAO define as one characterized by adequate, balanced, moderate, and diverse consumption of safe foods and beverages—is essential in supporting long-term physical and cognitive health, development, and well-being and in preventing diseases and damaging nutrient imbalances.