Food Systems Crises in 2026: Hunger and Supply Risks

Food insecurity across West Africa and the Sahel is set to worsen sharply in the 2026 lean season. The latest Cadre Harmonisé analysis cited by FAO and WFP estimates that 41.8 million people were already facing Crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3+), and that the number could rise to 52.8 million between June and August 2026 if urgent action is not taken. The crisis remains most severe in the Central Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, with conflict, displacement, climate shocks, inflation, and market disruption continuing to undermine access to food and livelihoods. FAO says the most at-risk countries include Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Guinea, Mali, Ghana, and Sierra Leone, while broader regional analysis also points to spreading pressure in coastal countries such as Senegal, Benin, and Togo. Humanitarian needs are rising faster than available resources. A regional humanitarian overview says 24.4 million people in the Sahel will require assistance in 2026, but only 19% of the needed US$3.7 billion had been secured by April 2026. UNICEF and regional humanitarian actors also warn that acute malnutrition risks remain high, especially for young children and conflict-affected communities.

Niger remains in a severe food insecurity crisis, with conflict, displacement, flooding, and poor market access continuing to drive acute hunger in the Tillabéri, Diffa, and northwestern Tahoua regions, and some households experiencing Emergency conditions (IPC/CH Phase 4). The latest FAO country brief estimates about 1.86 million people were acutely food insecure in the last quarter of 2025, while early projections point to about 2.42 million people facing acute food insecurity during the June-August 2026 lean season. The crisis is reinforced by displacement and livelihood disruption: FAO reports nearly 460,000 internally displaced people in Niger as of December 2025, and says about 85% of forcibly displaced people are concentrated in Tillabéri, Diffa, and Tahoua, increasing pressure on food stocks and host communities. FEWS NET says conflict-related insecurity continues to disrupt agricultural and pastoral production, supply chains, and market functioning, and that 2.5 to 2.9 million people will need food assistance in 2026, with the peak need expected between July and September. FAO also says 2.2 million people are likely to face high levels of acute food insecurity in 2026 and that it requires USD 32.5 million to assist 1.8 million people in Niger this year.

Haiti’s food crisis remains severe and is being driven by gang violence that continues to disrupt farming, transport, markets, and humanitarian access. The latest UN/IPC-backed reporting in late 2025 said 5.7 million people were in Crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3+) and projected that this would rise to 5.9 million by March 2026, with 1.9 million in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and about 3.8 million in Crisis (IPC Phase 3). Recent UN reporting also says the crisis is concentrated in areas where violence and insecurity block mobility and livelihoods, including Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, while the broader drivers include political instability, inflation, low agricultural production, and repeated displacement. The UN system described Haiti as needing urgent food assistance, with nearly five million people already requiring some form of food support and 1.64 million facing emergency hunger in earlier 2025 UN-backed analysis. The situation is further strained by armed groups’ control over key roads, ports, and access routes, which limits the movement of goods and aid and contributes to price increases and food shortages. Reuters reported in April 2026 that roughly 5.8 million Haitians were experiencing acute food insecurity, with more than 1.8 million in Emergency, and warned the total could approach 6 million as insecurity and economic shocks continued.

The Horn of Africa is entering a renewed climate-driven food-security crisis in 2026, but the latest evidence points to a mix of extreme dryness and localized flood risk rather than a single uniform shock. FAO reported in early 2026 that the October–December 2025 short rains had essentially failed across the eastern Horn, with many areas in Somalia, eastern Kenya, and southern Ethiopia receiving less than 60% of average rainfall and some places recording under 30%; FAO warned some locations were heading toward their driest season since 1981. ICPAC’s 2026 outlook adds that the region faces a dual-risk pattern this year: very dry conditions across much of the northern and central Greater Horn during July–September, followed by wetter-than-normal conditions and heightened flood potential in parts of the equatorial and southern zones later in the year. The drought shock is already translating into food insecurity, with FAO citing 2.1 million people at high levels of food insecurity in Kenya and 4.4 million in Somalia, and warning these figures could rise as the full impact of the failed rains becomes clear.

Food insecurity remains a major crisis in North America, but the available recent data are strongest for the United States; in 2024, 13.7% of U.S. households, or 18.3 million households, were food insecure at some time, affecting 47.9 million people and 14.1 million children. The prevalence was not statistically different from 2023, indicating the crisis remains persistent rather than rapidly improving. The burden is unevenly distributed. In the United States, food insecurity is higher in Black and Latinx households, in rural areas, and in the South; Indigenous communities also experience disproportionately high rates, with some analyses estimating about 1 in 4 Native Americans face food insecurity. Recent reporting also shows food banks and anti-hunger organizations continue to face sustained demand, while climate-related drought, water scarcity, and supply-chain stress remain important drivers of food-system instability across the region.

Madagascar continues to face a long-running migratory locust threat that can rapidly damage crops, pasture, and rural livelihoods, especially in agricultural and pastoral zones. FAO reporting says the plague has put the food and nutrition security and livelihoods of about 13 million people at risk, with severe episodes capable of infesting up to two-thirds of the island and causing major losses to rice and other staple crops. The most detailed figures in the provided sources are historical rather than 2025–2026 updates: an FAO/WFP mission found that by the end of February 1997 about 2 to 2.5 million hectares had been infested, while later assessments described losses in rice, maize, cassava, and pasture across southern, central, and northern zones. No supplied source confirms a new 2025–2026 escalation, so the most defensible current assessment is that the crisis remains structurally serious but without verified evidence of a recent surge.