Conflict and Climate Drive Record Global Hunger in 2024, UN Warns
Acute food insecurity escalated for the sixth consecutive year in 2024, with over 295 million people across 53 countries and territories affected—a 5% increase from 2023, Arab News reported.
The UN’s 2025 Global Report on Food Crises highlights conflict, climate extremes, and economic shocks as overlapping drivers, pushing 22.6% of populations in worst-hit regions to crisis-level hunger.
Famine-like conditions more than doubled to 1.9 million people, the highest since monitoring began in 2016. Conflict, particularly in Gaza, Sudan, and South Sudan, left nearly 140 million food-insecure. Economic turmoil, including inflation, exacerbated crises in Syria and Yemen, affecting 59.4 million—double pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, El Niño-induced droughts and floods displaced 96 million, especially in Southern Africa and the Horn of Africa.
Nearly 38 million children under five suffered acute malnutrition across 26 crisis zones, including Sudan, Yemen, Mali, and Gaza, a UN report revealed. Forced displacement worsened hunger, with 95 million refugees and internally displaced people in food-insecure nations like DR Congo and Colombia.
Despite overall deterioration, 15 countries—including Ukraine, Kenya, and Guatemala—saw improved food security due to aid, better harvests, and reduced conflict.
Humanitarian aid faces severe funding cuts (10–45%), compounded by the U.S. slashing 80% of USAID programs. The UN urges investment in local agriculture to break the hunger cycle.
