Mary, 30, and her child Daniel (six months) at a WFP-funded nutrition site in South Sudan earlier this year. Photo: WFP/Samantha Reinders
WHAT the world spends on coffee in two weeks can feed 123 million people for a year, the UN World Food Program (WFP) says.
The WFP is asking for US$16.9 billion so it can feed the malnourished and starving as its new 2025 Global Outlook report shows a 10 percent increase in people who are very food insecure, from the year before, to 343 million people in 74 countries.
The WFP says its job has become more complex as global crises driven by conflict, climate crises and economic shocks create an unrelenting demand for humanitarian assistance while funding shortfalls this year forced it to scale back activities.
The WFP believes an estimated 1.9 million people are on the brink of famine, specifically in Gaza and Sudan, and in South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali.
“Global humanitarian needs are rising, fuelled by devastating conflicts, more frequent climate disasters, and extensive economic turmoil yet funding is failing to keep pace,” says WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain.
“At WFP, we are dedicated to achieving a world without hunger but to get there, we urgently need financial and diplomatic support from the international community: to reverse the rising tide of global needs, and help vulnerable communities build long-term resilience against food insecurity.”
In 2025, the WFP says, it will continue to prioritise its responses according to each country’s needs and its own capabilities.
A WFP Chinook is unloaded by porters in Djibo, Burkina Faso, during its first rotation of the day. It can carry up to 12 metric tonnes of relief items a flight. Photo: WFP/Benoit Lognone
REGIONAL OUTLOOK
In Asia-Pacific, where 88 million people struggle with acute hunger, the WFP says it needs US$2.5 billion.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 170 million starving people, the WFP says it needs US $8.4 billion as the region will account for 50 per cent of its funding in 2025.
The Sudanese civil war, where famine was confirmed in one site in August, is driving massive displacement with a spillover into neighbouring countries, the WFP says.
Conflict is also pushing millions into hunger in the Congo and Sahel while extreme climate events are deepening food insecurity across southern Africa region.
In the Middle East-North Africa-Eastern Europe region, the WFP says it needs US$4.9 billion as conflict rages in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
The WFP says 91 per cent of the population in Gaza is acutely food-insecure, of whom 16 per cent are in catastrophic conditions while 17.1 million people in Yemen and 12.9 million in Syria are also acutely food-insecure.
In Latin America-Caribbean, the WFP says it needs US$1.1 billion as 40.8 million people experience food insecurity, 14.2 million of them in need of WFP help.
ABOUT THE OUTLOOK
The WFP 2025 Global Outlook is an update on global food security in countries where WFP operates and data is available. It shares the WFP’s operational requirements to assist target populations on a country, region and focus basis and is a snapshot of how WFP plans to address hunger in 2025.
The Outlook also features region-specific analysis of food insecurity levels, needs and planned responses for Asia and the Pacific, east Africa, west Africa, southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East, northern Africa and eastern Europe.
Find the WFP 2025 Global Outlook here
