2025 Global Report on Food Crises: Press Conference Highlights

Global Food Crisis Overview

• 🌍 The 2025 Global Report on Food Crises, the ninth edition, highlights that in 2024, approximately 295 million people across 53 countries experienced high levels of acute hunger, an increase of nearly 14 million from 2023.
• 📈 Acute food insecurity has risen for the sixth consecutive year, with more than one in five assessed individuals needing food assistance.
• ⚠️ The report emphasizes that the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance to address food insecurity has nearly tripled since 2016.

Severity and Drivers of Hunger

• 🚨 IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe) affected nearly 2 million people in 2024, with famine confirmed in Sudan and a persistent risk in Gaza.
• 🆘 Over 35 million people faced emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4) in 36 countries, with significant numbers in Sudan and Gaza.
• 💥 The primary drivers of food crises are conflict (in 20 countries), climate/weather extremes (in 18 countries), and economic shocks (in 15 countries), often reinforcing each other.
• 🏠 Conflict is the most significant driver, leading to 72 million internally displaced people globally, a number that has doubled since 2018.

Outlook for 2025 and Funding Challenges

• 📉 Projections for 2025 indicate continued challenges from conflict, economic vulnerabilities (like trade wars and debt burdens), and worsening weather extremes.
• ⚠️ A significant concern for 2025 is an anticipated 45% drop in humanitarian assistance for the food sector, which will deepen crises and reduce monitoring capacities.
• 📉 The World Food Programme (WFP) expects a 40% reduction in funding, potentially assisting fewer than 100 million people with less food assistance.
• 🌍 Similar funding gaps are faced by other UN agencies and NGO partners, leading to a widespread reduction in humanitarian coverage.

Acute Malnutrition in Children

• 👶 The 2025 report dedicates an entire chapter to acute malnutrition, with nearly 38 million children facing it in 2024, over 10 million suffering from severe wasting.
• 💔 Severe acute malnutrition weakens children's immune systems, impairs brain development, and can lead to lifelong impacts.
• 💡 While solutions like ready-to-use therapeutic food exist and are cost-effective, the scarcity is in political commitment and long-term financing, not capability.
• 💰 The cost of treating malnutrition is 50 times higher than preventative care, highlighting the need for early action and investment in women's nutritional needs.

Funding Cuts and Their Impact

• 💸 Significant funding cuts, particularly from the US (the largest donor), are projected for 2025, with potential reductions in humanitarian assistance ranging from 11% to 46% for the food security sector.
• 🚨 These cuts destabilize fragile contexts, creating vacuums that can be filled by conflict, displacement, extremism, and terrorism.
• 🆘 The impact is compounded as multiple agencies face similar cuts, leading to a cross-the-board reduction in assistance for those reliant on it.
• 📈 There is a critical need to link humanitarian action with long-term development and to rethink programming in protracted crisis settings.