Worsening hunger has been identified in 13 countries and territories, according to the latest Hunger Hotspots report that urges humanitarian action in these areas.
The report, a joint effort of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program, shows that Palestine, South Sudan, Haiti, Mali and the Sudan have the highest risk of “extreme hunger” and starvation in coming months.
Armed violence remains the driving factor in 12 of the 13 areas and all five areas of highest concern. Conditions are exacerbated by extreme weather events, global economic fragility, high debt burdens, geopolitical volatility, trade disruptions and increasingly constrained nutrition assistance funding. Official development assistance declined in 2024 for the first time in five years, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
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Other hotspots of “very high concern” include Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar and Nigeria. The report also identified Burkina Faso, Chad, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic as hunger hotspots to watch in the coming months.
In the October 2024 edition of the report, 16 hunger hotspots were identified. In the most recent report, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Zambia and Zimbabwe are no longer classified as hotspots due to climatic condition improvements. Lebanon is no longer classified as a hotspot due to de-escalation of military operations.
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