WFP Warns of a 2026 Hunger Crisis Affecting 318 Million, With Funding Slashed in Half

The World Food Programme is sounding the alarm: global hunger is about to get dramatically worse. In its 2026 Global Outlook released Tuesday, the UN agency warns that more than 300 million people will face acute food insecurity next year, a staggering figure more than double what the world saw in 2019.

And here’s the devastating part: the WFP expects it will only have enough resources to feed 110 million of them.

The organisation estimates it will need $13bn to respond in 2026, covering crisis aid plus longer-term resilience and root-cause work. Current forecasts indicate it may receive only about half of that.

Executive Director Cindy McCain didn’t mince words:

“The world is grappling with simultaneous famines, in Gaza and parts of Sudan. This is completely unacceptable in the 21st century. Hunger is becoming more entrenched… we desperately need more support.”

The shortfall is driven in part by major cuts from the United States after Donald Trump’s return to the White House, which sharply reduced funding to the WFP and other humanitarian agencies.

The WFP lists a grim map of hunger hotspots:

• Gaza, where famine was formally declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas after months of Israeli blockade and ongoing restrictions on food, fuel, water, and medicine.
• Sudan, where famine has been confirmed in el-Fasher and Kadugli amid brutal fighting between the RSF and the Sudanese army, with 20 areas across Darfur and Kordofan at risk.
• Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, the Sahel, DR Congo, Haiti, Nigeria, and others facing escalating emergencies.

More than two-thirds of acute food insecurity is now directly tied to conflict, from civil wars to state collapse to protracted occupation. Layered on top are climate shocks, economic downturns, and spiking costs for food and fuel.

What worries the WFP most is the trendline: hunger isn’t simply rising, it’s deepening. Communities that once recovered between crises are now locked in a cycle with no breathing room.