WFP warns of deepening hunger crisis amid funding shortfall | Hunger News

The UN agency said an estimated 318 million people would face severe food insecurity in 2026.

The World Food Program (WFP) has said funding cuts will deepen the hunger crisis worldwide and warned that more than 300 million people will face severe food insecurity next year.

“Food insecurity is expected to remain at worrying levels,” the organization said in its 2026 Global Outlook report released on Tuesday.

The UN agency said an estimated 318 million people would face acute food insecurity in 2026, equivalent to “crisis” level or worse, more than double the number in 2019.

Of these, about 41 million are estimated to be at the “emergency” stage or worse, equivalent to an IPC 4 or higher classification on the globally accepted hunger monitoring system.

WFP estimates that it will be able to feed about 110 million people in 2026, leaving a large portion of the global population in need of food without its assistance.

The organization said it estimates its operational needs for 2026 will be $13 billion, with the majority going to crisis response and other spending, including resilience building and addressing root causes.

Current forecasts suggest that WFP may receive only about half the amount.

“The world is facing famine simultaneously in Gaza and parts of Sudan. This is completely unacceptable in the 21st century,” WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in a statement.

“Hunger is becoming more severe. We know that early, effective solutions save lives, but we desperately need more support.”

In Gaza City and its surrounding areas, the IPC declared famine in August, just months after Israeli forces imposed a one-month total blockade of Gaza. The hunger crisis in the Palestinian territories remains severe as Israel continues to impose restrictions on supplies of food, fuel, water and medicine.

Famine conditions were confirmed in Sudan’s Al-Fashar and Kadugli earlier this month, with 20 other areas in Darfur and Kordofan – battlegrounds between the paramilitary Rapid Support Force and the Sudanese army – at risk of famine.

The families arriving at this camp near El Fasher arrive tired and hungry.

WFP’s @FaithAwino3 Explains how WFP is delivering emergency food and nutrition assistance to more than half a million people and expanding help to surrounding areas. pic.twitter.com/cX4iqGUFhh

– WFP Sudan (@WFP_Sudan) 17 November 2025

Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, the Sahel region of East Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and Nigeria are some of the other hotspots of concern.

Conflict remains the leading driver of hunger globally, with more than two-thirds of all severe food insecurity cases attributable to conflict-induced crises.

According to WFP, climate-related shocks, economic instability, and food and energy price inflation have worsened the situation.

Yet the agency said last month that it expected to receive 40 percent less funding next year.

The United States has been the largest and wealthiest country to announce deeply impactful funding cuts to WFP and other UN and international agencies following President Donald Trump’s “America-first” return to the White House earlier this year.