A new United Nations assessment found acute food insecurity rising across parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America, pointing to climate shocks and ongoing conflicts as the primary drivers.
The report estimates that the number of people facing crisis-level food insecurity has grown for a third consecutive year, reversing gains made in the previous decade.
“We are seeing overlapping shocks — drought in one region, conflict displacement in another — hitting food systems that were already fragile,” said a spokesperson for the UN agency that compiled the report.
The report calls for faster, more flexible funding mechanisms, noting that current humanitarian appeals remain significantly underfunded compared with need in the hardest-hit regions, with some country appeals less than half funded halfway through the year.
Agency officials urged donor governments to shift toward multi-year funding commitments rather than emergency-only allocations, arguing that predictable funding allows for longer-term resilience projects rather than repeated crisis response.
