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Between September 2024 and March 2025, approximately 2 million people (31 percent of the analysed population) are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity - classified as IPC Phase 3 or above. Nearly 1.7 million people are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3), and 307,000 are facing Emergency (IPC Phase 4).

The populations most affected include those who experienced low yields from agricultural production and have already depleted their food reserves. This group includes casual labourers, displaced households, and poor urban families reliant on the market for their food needs. While these individuals are dispersed throughout the country, their presence is comparatively higher in the prefectures of Basse-Kotto, Lim Pendé, Mambéré, Mbomou, Nana-Mambéré, Ouaka, and Ouham-Pendé.

Despite some seasonal improvement compared to the previous update in April 2024—when 2.5 million people (41 percent of the population) were classified in Phase 3 or above —the situation remains concerning due to several factors. These include economic access challenges for certain households, a lack of food reserves, disruptions in internal and cross-border supply chains due to armed violence, flooding impacts, irregular rainfall affecting agriculture (the primary livelihood in most areas), and population displacement.

The situation is expected to deteriorate between April and August 2025 if necessary measures are not implemented. About 2.25 million people (35 percent of the analysed population) will likely experience Crisis (Phase 3) and Emergency (Phase 4) levels of acute food insecurity. During this period, it is estimated that around 1.82 million people will be in Phase 3 and approximately 431,000 people will be in Phase 4.

Nearly 5.4 million children aged 0-59 months in northwest and northeast Nigeria are suffering from acute malnutrition and will likely continue suffering through 2025. This includes about 1.8 million cases of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and 3.6 million cases of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM). Additionally, approximately 787,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished.

In the current period of May – September 2024, over half of the 133 Local Government Areas (LGAs) assessed were classified as IPC Acute Malnutrition (AMN) Phase 3 (Serious) or Phase 4 (Critical). Specifically, in the northeast, 10 LGAs were in Phase 4 and 21 in Phase 3; in the northwest, there were 24 in Phase 4 and 29 in Phase 3.

Key factors driving this crisis include poor food consumption, inadequate health services, and ongoing food insecurity. The number of acutely malnourished children needing treatment has risen by 23 percent since the last analysis, with SAM cases increasing by 69 percent.

The first projection period from October to December 2024 indicates that acute malnutrition levels in both the northeast and northwest regions are expected to remain largely stable compared to the current period. However, Northern Yobe is likely to see a deterioration in its situation. During the second projection period from January to April 2025, conditions in the northeast are anticipated to remain similar, with the exception of Mobbar and Nganzai in Northern Borno, where a decline is expected.

The severity of acute food insecurity in Gaza has sharply worsened since early October, when Israel began to increasingly restrict humanitarian and commercial food supply flows to the north and commercial food
supply flows to the south. In the worst-affected areas in North Gaza governorate, including Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya, a siege has caused the near-total blockade of food supply flows since October 1. In the absence of a dramatic increase in food supply flows, Famine (IPC Phase 5) will become the most likely outcome in North Gaza. In the coming weeks, FEWS NET will collaborate with the Integrated Phase classification (IPC) partnership and Famine Review Committee (FRC) on the assessment of Famine (IPC Phase 5). However, government decision-makers should not await this classification, which will only serve to confirm excess hunger related mortality is reaching an extreme threshold for human suffering and
loss of life. FEWS NET urges immediate action to facilitate large-scale, sustained delivery of food and nutrition assistance that saves lives.

This FRC alert is issued to express concern about an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip. While an IPC update will be conducted, this Alert serves to draw immediate attention on the need to take urgent action to alleviate this humanitarian catastrophe in areas of the northern Gaza Strip.

Armed violence and conflict continue to affect the livelihoods of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This, combined with soaring food prices and the prolonged effects of various epidemics have left approximately 25.6 million in high levels of acute food insecurity, classified as IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse).

Between July to December 2024, around 3 percent of people (around 3.1 million people) are facing critical levels of food insecurity – IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) – characterized by large food gaps and high levels of acute malnutrition. Another 19 percent (22.4 million people) are facing crisis levels of food insecurity, classified as IPC Phase 3 (Crisis).

The affected populations are spread throughout the country, however, the most affected populations are mainly displaced people and returnees – concentrated in the provinces of North Kivu, Ituri, South Kivu and Tanganyika, Maindombe – as well as populations affected by natural disasters and unemployment.

The analysis projected for January to June 2025 indicates a situation where food insecurity rates are expected to be almost identical to those of the current situation, with 25.5 million people (22 percent of the population analysed) projected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phases 3 or above), including around 3.3 million people who are projected to face critical levels of acute food insecurity (Phase 4) and 22.2 million people who will likely be in Phase 3.

One year into the conflict, the risk of Famine persists across the whole Gaza Strip. Given the recent surge in hostilities, there are growing concerns that this worstcase scenario may materialize. Violence has displaced nearly 2 million people, decimated livelihoods, crippled food systems, destroyed 70 percent of crop fields, severely restricted humanitarian operations and resulted in the collapse of health services and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) systems. Catastrophic acute food insecurity and concerning acute malnutrition levels will continue to prevail if the conflict continues, and humanitarian activities are restricted.

Between September and October 2024, the whole territory is classified in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency). About 1.84 million people across the Gaza Strip are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity classified in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) or above, including nearly 133,000 people facing catastrophic food insecurity (IPC Phase 5) and 664,000, in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency). Acute Malnutrition is at serious levels (IPC AMN Phase 3), ten times higher than before the escalation of the hostilities.