Hunger breaks a new record due to the wars in Gaza and Sudan: two million people in a "catastrophic" phase of food insecurity

Never before has the world suffered so much hunger. For the sixth consecutive time, the Global Report on Food Crises , whose most recent update was published this Friday, certifies a worsening situation as a result of armed conflict, climate change, and the economic crisis. Prepared by the Global Network against Food Crises , made up of partners such as the European Union and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the report warns that 295.3 million people—the equivalent of 86% of the US population—are suffering from acute food insecurity, which occurs when there is insufficient availability and access to food.

But in addition, in 2024 the number of people in "catastrophic" situations reached a new record: two million people— especially in Gaza , Sudan, and South Sudan—are living under the worst of all food security levels measured by the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) , an international "thermometer" of food access. When that point is reached, the population needs urgent and immediate assistance. Rein Paulsen, FAO's Director of Emergencies and Resilience, fears what will happen in 2025. "One of our biggest concerns is our capacity to respond with future interventions. A significant decline—between 11% and 45%—is likely for food security interventions," warns Paulsen.

The Food Crises Report has been published since 2016 and monitors the situation in countries with risk factors. This year's data indicate that 13.7 million more people face high levels of food insecurity compared to the 2023 figures. The increase—of 5%—is due, in part, to changes in the geographic coverage of this report, which studied the situation in 53 countries. Of the 34 countries with data comparable to the situation in 2023, 19 recorded a worse situation, such as Namibia, Chad, Zimbabwe, Sudan , and Palestine.

The main cause of food insecurity in 20 of the countries and regions analyzed—including Haiti , Lebanon, Myanmar, Nigeria, Gaza, and Sudan—was conflict and violence. In 18 countries, it was extreme weather. And in another 15—including Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria , and South Sudan—it was the economic situation.

2024 was a critical year. In July of that year , for the third time in history, a country—Sudan—was confirmed to be facing hunger , a declaration that can only be made by the IPC Famine Review Committee. It was also the year in which the largest population fell into the worst phase of the IPC, which establishes five levels of food insecurity: minimal, acute, crisis, emergency, and catastrophe. The number of people in Phase V, or catastrophe, doubled compared to 2023, reaching almost two million. Ninety-five percent of these people are in the Gaza Strip and Sudan. This extreme lack of food is also suffered by people in South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali.

Last year, the Famine Review Committee also projected that famine was imminent in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Israeli invasion since October 2023 and by an upsurge in violence since the short-lived ceasefire was lifted last March . However, data from June 2024, influenced by the arrival of increased supplies and humanitarian aid at the time, were not sufficient for the committee to declare it, the FAO report explains.

However, the outlook for 2025 raises fears of the worst. The report warns that the blockade the Strip has endured since the end of the ceasefire will worsen the situation: "Even under an optimistic scenario of double-digit growth and substantial foreign aid, it is expected that it will take decades for livelihoods to recover to pre-October 2023 levels."

The FAO report also warns that the intensification of armed conflicts and insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Sudan, and South Sudan will complicate access to food. Economic crises are also expected to re-emerge as the main cause of acute food insecurity due to uncertainty in the global economy. “Rising tariffs and a weaker US dollar could make food prices more expensive globally and affect supply chains, reducing access to food in import-dependent countries,” the document warns. In turn, global warming will worsen droughts in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and consequently, crop damage could occur.

It is clear that there will be less funding in 2025 than in 2024: exactly the opposite of what we need with these acute food insecurity trends.

Rein Paulsen, Director of Emergencies and Resilience at FAO

To top it all off, the cuts in humanitarian aid and cooperation projects brought about by the start of Donald Trump's presidency will also take a toll on food security in the Global South. Between 2016 and 2024, half of all humanitarian food funding came from the US. The report warns that the abrupt cuts in funding earlier this year have led to the closure or interruption of humanitarian operations in countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia , Haiti, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen. "This is exactly the opposite of what we need with these trends of acute food insecurity," laments the FAO's Emergencies Director.

One of the challenges of financing humanitarian and development aid , Paulsen explains, is combining different types of funding for all types of projects, not just those that address food crises that have already occurred. “For example,” the expert cites, “around 80% of people experiencing acute food insecurity live in rural areas and are somehow connected to agriculture for survival. But only 3% of global funding for food security interventions goes to emergency agricultural projects or the provision of seeds and tools for farming.” Paulsen explains that boosting emergency agricultural projects is highly cost-effective: the interventions are four times cheaper and much more effective in terms of results. Strategies like this have been implemented in Afghanistan, for example, and have made it one of the 15 countries that have shown improvements in their food security indices compared to 2023.

But the cuts will not only affect field projects, but also some assessment and analysis tasks such as the collection of data on food security and nutritional status. "We will have to be very efficient to obtain a 'snapshot' of food security with the resources we have available," Paulsen acknowledges. Unless trends change by early 2025, there will be a lack of money to alleviate hunger and eyesight to see where there is an empty plate.