Polls and briefings warn of a deepening hunger crisis driven by conflict, climate shocks, and funding gaps. This page answers common questions readers have as famine fears grow in South Sudan, Lebanon, the DRC, Yemen, Gaza, and beyond, and points to how readers can help. Read on for the regions at risk, how crises compound hunger, and what humanitarian responses look like today.
Updated assessments show that South Sudan, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, and Gaza are among the hotspots where hunger is high or extreme. The factors driving risk include ongoing conflict, displacement, disrupted agriculture, and economic collapse, which reduce people’s access to food, cash, and aid. IPC timelines and UN briefings highlight that hunger is spreading and becoming more protracted in these areas.
Climate shocks like droughts and floods disrupt harvests and destroy food sources just as conflicts block aid routes and destabilize economies. Funding gaps mean fewer programs to protect households, purchase food, and deliver relief. The combination creates a cycle where vulnerable communities lose resilience and food security deteriorates faster than relief can arrive.
Key indicators include higher numbers of people facing acute hunger (IPC phase 3 or higher), rising malnutrition rates among children, displacement, rising poverty and unemployment, and bottlenecks in aid delivery. UN agencies and IPC reports often use these signals to mark how quickly a crisis is escalating.
Responses include food assistance, nutrition programs, cash transfers, and support for farming and livelihoods, as well as efforts to protect civilian aid corridors. Gaps persist in funding, access to hard-to-reach areas, and ensuring continuous supply chains during conflict, which can delay or reduce aid delivery.
Readers can donate to credible humanitarian organizations, advocate for safe, sustained humanitarian access, and support long-term resilience programs like nutrition, food security, and livelihood initiatives. Staying informed and sharing reliable reports helps keep hunger in public focus and can influence funding and policy decisions.
Experts describe the situation as protracted because food insecurity is not a short-term spike; it persists across years in multiple hotspots due to ongoing conflicts, climate pressures, and repeated aid interruptions. IPC reports and UN briefings emphasize the need for sustained, multi-year support to prevent famine and stabilize communities.
War in Sudan has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with fears protracted fighting could worsen it.