Recurring shocks and persistent structural vulnerabilities are making food crises more protracted: Global Report on Food Crises released today

Over the past 10 years, food and nutrition crises have shifted from one-off emergencies to protracted conditions in many regions around the world, according to the 2026 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) released today. 

Since 2016, the global share of people facing acute food insecurity has nearly doubled. In 2025, 266 million people across 47 countries/territories experienced acute food insecurity; what’s more, 33 of those countries have appeared in every GRFC edition released since the report’s inception in 2016. This last fact highlights the emergence of a new reality when it comes to food crises: the majority of such crises are becoming both more frequent and more prolonged due to repeated shocks and growing structural vulnerabilities. 

Approximately 1.4 million people across six countries/territories experienced IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe)-level food insecurity in 2025, a more than nine-fold increase since 2016. Another 39 million people in 32 countries/territories experienced IPC Phase 4 (Emergency_ insecurity. Famine conditions were also confirmed in the Sudan and parts of the Gaza Strip, while the risk of famine was reported in South Sudan and other parts of Gaza and the Sudan. This risk is expected to continue throughout 2026.

As in previous years, conflict and climate change-related shocks were among the primary causes of food crises in 2025. Conflict drove crises in 19 countries, impacting 147.4 million people, while extreme weather events drove crises in 16 countries and affected 87.5 million people The report did find that economic shocks played a smaller role than in previous years. These shocks drove crises in 12 countries and impacted 29.8 million people. 

The largest and most severe food crises were concentrated in just 10 countries in 2025: Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic. Nearly thirty-one percent of the world’s acutely food insecure population lived in Nigeria, DRC, and the Sudan. 

Afghanistan, DRC, Nigeria, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen have consistently been among the countries with the largest number of acutely food insecure people since 2016, highlighting the protracted nature of food crises in these countries over the past decade. Persistent structural vulnerabilities in these, and other, countries—things like political instability, poor governance capacity, chronic high poverty, and more exposure to climate risks—has reduced populations’ resilience in the face of more sudden shocks like extreme weather events or the outbreak of conflict or disease. As these shocks become recurrent, livelihoods disappear, local and national agrifood systems falter, and food insecurity and poverty deepen. 

Drastic cuts to humanitarian and development funding since early 2025 have only exacerbated the situation in many places around the world. Populations in food crisis often require immediate humanitarian assistance to meet the need for food and other essential services in the short term. However, the GRFC reports that in 2025, overall humanitarian funding for food aid fell to the lowest level seen since 2016. This significant reduction in funds for urgent aid only further reduces the ability of populations to bounce back from shocks. 

Looking forward to 2026, the global food crisis environment remains critical and alarming. As of March, 34 countries/territories had shown evidence of food crisis and acute food insecurity, with 23 of those countries providing data that was comparable to their peak acute food insecurity from 2025. 

The Sudan, Yemen, South Sudan, Nigeria, and the Gaza Strip are projected to experience IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe) food insecurity among some portion of their population in 2026. 

The continuation of the conflict in the Middle East, which broke out in February 2026, will have both direct and indirect impacts on countries covered by the GRFC. Several countries, including Lebanon, have been drawn into the conflict, with population displacement resulting and likely to continue. Many countries in the region also rely on food imports, and these will be directly impacted by the disruption in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. 

That disruption also continues to impact regional, national, and global energy and fertilizer markets, with a spillover effect on agrifood markets inevitable if the closure of the Strait continues. Lower availability of fertilizers, coupled with higher prices for those inputs that remain available, could lead farmers around the globe to reduce their plantings. This would both decrease livelihoods and incomes for producers and reduce the volume of food produced for consumers. 

This year’s GRFC also calls out a new and concerning trend. Reductions in funding and on-the-ground access have threatened food and nutrition security information systems around the world. Data regarding displaced populations and refugee populations in particular has declined in recent years. The GRFC, and other critical reports used to monitor and assess food crises, depend on such systems to provide the reliable, timely data needed to inform evidence-based policymaking. In the absence of such data, researchers, development practitioners, and policymakers alike will be left in the dark regarding the true nature of food crises at the local, national, regional, and global levels, as well as the best ways to address those crises and save lives.

The report calls for several courses of action by policymakers to address the world’s increasing prolonged food crises. First, urgent short-term efforts need to be made to prioritize areas where extreme hunger and famine are either present or likely. Second, coupled with this short-term response, policymakers, donors, and the international development community need to shift their perspective from addressing food crises after they occur to addressing the risk factors of food crises and underlying structural vulnerabilities that exacerbate those crises. This includes investing in rural transformation, inclusive markets, greater local economic opportunities, and climate resilience. All of these factors can increase populations’ resilience in the face of shocks. 

Finally, government and donor budgets need to be better aligned with the goals of protecting humanitarian aid for those most in need to prevent recurring crises, and information systems need to be protected and strengthened in order to ensure access to timely, reliable data.

The Global Report on Food Crises is produced through collaborative effort of the world’s leading food security and nutrition technical agencies and partners. The report provides an overview of acute food insecurity, acute malnutrition, and population displacement in countries/territories facing food crises. It provides a methodologically rigorous, neutral, and jointly validated assessment to help policymakers prioritize resources where the severity, scale and persistence of food security needs are greatest.

Sara Gustafson is a freelance writer.