Global Humanitarian Overview 2024

Worsening hunger crisis requires global response across all sectors

Hunger is not inevitable, but it is almost always man-made, driven by a combination of armed conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes, poverty and inequality. Today, poverty and inequality remain the largest drivers of chronic hunger, while armed conflict continues to be the biggest driver of acute hunger in the world: 117 million people were driven to hunger mainly by conflict in 2022. In recent years, climate-related weather extremes have also destroyed ecosystems and people’s livelihoods. To be effective in eradicating hunger, all these drivers need to be addressed concurrently and systematically.

Global food insecurity has reached new heights, causing 258 million people in 2022 to face high levels of acute food insecurity in 58 countries/territories, up from 193 million people in 53 countries/territories in 2021. More than 40 per cent of those affected reside in five countries experiencing protracted crises: Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Nigeria and Yemen. In 2022, wasting threatened the lives of 45 million children under 5 (or 7 per cent of all children), of which 13.6 million were already suffering from severe wasting. Women and people living in rural areas are the hardest hit by food insecurity.

Number of people in acute food insecurity in 2024 HRP countries

The outlook for 2023-2024 remains serious and likely to deteriorate further in the absence of concerted international support. Looking at 2023, as many as 333 million people are estimated to be acutely food insecure in the 78 countries with World Food Programme (WFP) operations and where data is available. This is an increase of 184 million people compared to pre-pandemic levels.

By April 2024, populations in 18 out of 22 countries or territories, identified as Hunger Hotspots, are likely to face a significant deterioration in acute food insecurity levels. Among these, five contexts or “hotspots” are of the highest concern: Burkina Faso, Mali, the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), South Sudan and Sudan. In these countries, people either already face, or are projected to face, starvation or are at risk of deterioration towards catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity (IPC/CH 5). In 2023, at least 129,000 people Burkina Faso, Mali, South Sudan and Somalia were projected to face catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity (IPC/CH 5).

In Burkina Faso and Mali, already high levels of acute food insecurity may further increase, driven by escalating violence and dire access for aid workers. In Mali, for the first time, 2,507 people are projected to be living in catastrophic food insecurity conditions (CH Phase 5). An upsurge in violence is expected following the withdrawal of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) at the end of 2023. In Burkina Faso, 42,694 people were projected to face catastrophic conditions (CH Phase 5) between June and August 2023.

About 1.5 million people were acutely food insecure in OPT already in 2022, including 1.2 million people in the Gaza Strip (80 per cent of those experiencing food insecurity in OPT). Deteriorating security and economic conditions most likely resulted in a worsening of the food security situation even before the beginning of the current conflict in October 2023. The ongoing hostilities in Gaza have caused mass displacement and the destruction of critical infrastructure. Gaza’s food systems have been severely strained. Restricted humanitarian access has limited the amount of aid available. All of these factors are expected to worsen the current food insecurity situation.

In South Sudan, critical levels of food insecurity are expected to persist across the country, even after the start of harvests in October due to insufficient crop production, high staple food prices and a lack of resources to support the rising numbers of returnees from Sudan. In 2023, between April and July, 43,000 people were projected to face Catastrophe levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 5).

In Sudan, the devastating impacts of the conflict on livelihoods, the agriculture sector and the economy at large, amid the internal displacement of more than 6 million people will drive high levels of acute food insecurity. By September 2023, around 20.3 million people – or nearly half of Sudan’s total population – were assessed as facing crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 and above) levels of acute food insecurity. This is a deterioration compared with the same period last year, and the expected severe impact on agricultural production – due to inaccessible or insecure lands, combined with climate extremes – is expected to significantly dampen the traditional seasonal improvement.

Monthly evolution of the Food Price Index (2000 - Oct 2023)

Persistently high food prices are adding extra pressure to food insecurity worldwide. Although global food prices had fallen by the end of 2022, and continued to shrink in 2023, they remained well above pre-pandemic levels. Domestic food prices, by contrast, increased in all 58 countries/territories with food crises by the end of the 2022, with food inflation over 10 per cent in 38 of them, and making essential purchases unaffordable for many people. The war in Ukraine also caused fertilizer and freight costs to surge, placing additional pressure on food prices by increasing the cost of production and transport.

Humanitarians continue to fight against the growing hunger crisis. However, humanitarians have also faced increasing financial pressure in their operational costs associated with insecurity and volatility in areas of operation, the higher cost of commodities and cost of food, fuel and transport. For example, WFP’s current operational costs are, on average, 27 per cent higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, with highest impact observed in countries such as Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria.

Ending the hunger crisis will require political solutions to end conflict, funding at scale and the strong collaboration of development and humanitarian actors, with both working side by side in the most fragile contexts. While more than 79 per cent of humanitarian funding goes to countries with food crises, only 33 per cent of development funding and a fraction of climate financing is spent in food crises countries. Greater investment in disaster risk reduction, resilience and anticipatory action could also bring increased efficiencies, with the benefits outweighing costs by two to five times, or more in some cases.

References

  1. Food Security Information Network, Global Report on Food Crises 2023 (GFRC), p. 19
  2. Defined as Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)/Cadre Harmonise (CH) Phase 3 or above or equivalent. For more information see IPC Acute Food Insecurity Classification
  3. Food Security Information Network, Global Report on Food Crises 2023 (GFRC), p. 17; UN OCHA, Global Humanitarian Overview 2023: Hundreds of millions of people face hunger as historic food crisis looms, 30 November 2022
  4. UNICEF-WHO-World Bank, Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - 2023 edition interactive dashboard
  5. 31 May 2023
  6. WFP, Global Operational Response Plan, November 2023
  7. FAO/WFP, Hunger Hotspots – early warnings on acute food insecurity: November 2023- April 2024 outlook
  8. FAO/WFP, Hunger Hotspots – early warnings on acute food insecurity: November 2023- April 2024 outlook
  9. WFP, A global food crisis, data retrieved 14 November 2023.
  10. FAO/WFP, Hunger Hotspots – early warnings on acute food insecurity: November 2023- April 2024 outlook
  11. Although famine as defined by the IPC (the absolute inaccessibility of food to an entire population or sub-group of a population, potentially causing death in the short term) was averted, the situation remained critical with deaths occurring from the drought even without reaching a formal famine declaration level. WHO, New study finds that 43 000 “excess deaths” may have occurred in 2022 from the drought in Somalia, 20 March 2023
  12. IPC, Somalia: Famine review of the IPC Analysis, 2 December 2022
  13. IPC, Somalia: Acute Malnutrition Situation for August - September 2023 and Projection for October - December 2023; FAO/WFP, Hunger Hotspots – early warnings on acute food insecurity: November 2023- April 2024 outlook
  14. FAO/WFP, Hunger Hotspots – early warnings on acute food insecurity: November 2023- April 2024 outlook
  15. IPC, Somalia: Acute Malnutrition Situation for August - September 2023 and Projection for October - December 2023; FAO/WFP, Hunger Hotspots – early warnings on acute food insecurity: November 2023- April 2024 outlook
  16. FAO/WFP, Hunger Hotspots – early warnings on acute food insecurity: November 2023- April 2024 outlook
  17. FAO/WFP, Hunger Hotspots – early warnings on acute food insecurity: November 2023- April 2024 outlook
  18. FAO/WFP, Hunger Hotspots – early warnings on acute food insecurity: November 2023- April 2024 outlook; UN OCHA, Sudan Situation Report – 12 November 2023
  19. FAO/WFP, Hunger Hotspots – early warnings on acute food insecurity: November 2023- April 2024 outlook; UN OCHA, Sudan Situation Report – 12 November 2023
  20. FAO, , (SOFI), p. 12
  21. Food Security Information Network, Global Report on Food Crises 2023 (GFRC), p. 8
  22. Food Security Information Network, Global Report on Food Crises 2023 (GFRC), p. 13
  23. Estimates provided by WFP directly
  24. Global Humanitarian Overview 2023 – , 30 April 2023, p. 4
  25. OCHA, OCHA Discussion Paper: Gendered drivers, risks and impacts of food insecurity in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, 10 November 2023
  26. UNDP, The climate promise: What does gender equality have to do with climate change?, 28 February 2023