Nigeria and nine other conflict-hit countries now account for two-thirds of people facing acute food insecurity globally, a new international report has revealed, underscoring how violence is driving a deepening global hunger crisis.
The 2026 Global Report on Food Crises, released on Friday by an alliance of UN agencies, the European Union and partners, found that 266 million people across 47 countries experienced high levels of acute food insecurity in 2025 – nearly a quarter of the population analysed and almost double the share recorded in 2016.
The report paints a stark picture of a crisis that is no longer temporary but increasingly entrenched and concentrated in a handful of conflict-affected countries, our correspondent who saw the detailed release on the UN website noted.
“Acute food insecurity today is not just widespread – it is also persistent and recurring,” said Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, warning that the crisis has become structural rather than temporary.
Earlier in January, the UN, through its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria, disclosed that 35 million Nigerians are at risk of acute hunger this year.
Conflict the primary driver
Conflict remains the primary driver, accounting for more than half of all people facing severe hunger.
Ten countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen – accounted for two-thirds of all people facing high levels of acute hunger.
At the most extreme end, famine was confirmed in 2025 in Gaza and parts of Sudan – the first time since the report began that two separate famines have been recorded in a single year.
“This report is a call to action,” António Guterres said in the foreword, “to summon the political will to rapidly scale up investment in lifesaving aid, and work to end the conflicts that inflict so much suffering on so many.”
The report also highlights a sharp rise in the severity of hunger. More than 39 million people in 32 countries faced emergency levels of food insecurity, while the number of people experiencing catastrophic hunger has increased ninefold since 2016.
Children bearing the brunt
Children are among the most affected. In 2025, 35.5 million children were acutely malnourished, including nearly 10 million suffering from severe acute malnutrition – a life-threatening condition that dramatically increases the risk of death.
“Children with severe wasting are too thin for their height. Their immune systems weakened to the extent that ordinary childhood illnesses can become fatal,” Ricardo Pires of the UNICEF warned.
