Tens of millions at risk of hunger as funding crisis spirals

WFP logo

Penang, 7 Apr (Kanaga Raja) — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned last week that 58 million people risk losing life-saving assistance in the agency’s 28 most critical crisis response operations unless new funding is received urgently.

In a news release issued on 28 March, WFP said that despite the generosity of many governments and individual donors, it is experiencing a steep decline in funding across its major donors.

The severity of these cuts, combined with record levels of people in need, have led to an unprecedented crisis for tens of millions across the globe reliant on food aid, it added.

Right now, the organization is facing an alarming 40 percent drop in funding for 2025, as compared to last year, it said.

This is having severe repercussions for its food aid efforts globally, particularly emergency feeding programmes that support the most vulnerable, WFP pointed out.

Incidentally, in an operational update released on 3 April, WFP said it urgently needs US$40 million to support 850,000 people affected by the massive earthquake that struck central Myanmar on 28 March afternoon.

“WFP is prioritizing countries with the greatest needs and stretching food rations at the frontlines. While we are doing everything possible to reduce operational costs, make no mistake, we are facing a funding cliff with life- threatening consequences,” Rania Dagash-Kamara, the WFP Assistant Executive Director for Partnerships and Innovation, said in the news release issued on 28 March.

“Emergency feeding programmes not only save lives and alleviate human suffering, they bring greatly needed stability to fragile communities, which can spiral downwards when faced with extreme hunger,” Dagash-Kamara warned.

WFP said today, global hunger is skyrocketing as 343 million people face severe food insecurity, driven by an unrelenting wave of global crises including conflict, economic instability, and climate-related emergencies.

In 2025, WFP’s operations are focused on supporting just over one-third of those in need – roughly 123 million of the world’s hungriest people – nearly half of whom (58 million) are at imminent risk of losing access to food assistance, it added.

Last year, WFP teams helped feed more than 120 million people in 80 countries, delivering urgent food aid to hunger hotspots and frontline crises around the world, said the UN agency.

CRITICAL RESPONSE

Working to quickly adapt its operations to the current low funding levels, the UN agency said it is alerting donors that its 28 most critical crisis response operations are facing severe funding constraints and dangerously low food supplies through August.

The 28 programmes in question encompass: Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, South Sudan, Chad, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Uganda, Niger, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Yemen, Mali, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Haiti, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, Kenya, Ukraine, Malawi, Burundi, Ethiopia, Palestine, the Central African Republic, Jordan, and Egypt.

Providing some examples of its 28 programmes that are being affected by severe funding constraints, WFP said in Sudan, it requires nearly US$570 million to support over 7 million people per month in the country, where a looming pipeline break will hit as early as April.

Famine was first confirmed in Zamzam camp near the embattled city of El Fasher and has since spread to 10 areas across North Darfur and the Western Nuba mountains, it pointed out.

In Sudan, 24.6 million people do not have enough to eat, the UN agency emphasized.

Delays in funding to deliver emergency food assistance, emergency nutrition and emergency logistics will cut a vital lifeline for millions with immediate and devastating consequences for vulnerable populations, who in many cases are just one step away from starvation, it warned.

In the DRC, WFP said it requires US$399 million to feed 6.4 million as escalating violence by militia groups in the east has already displaced more than a million people.

Food and nutrition assistance across the DRC is vital to stabilize the region and reach the most vulnerable who have already been displaced by conflict multiple times, it added.

In Syria, WFP said that it requires US$140 million to provide food and nutrition assistance to 1.2 million people every month.

Without new funding, WFP faces a pipeline break in August which would cut off food assistance to one million of the most severely food-insecure individuals, it added.

Any disruption in life-saving assistance threatens to erode stability and social cohesion during a critical moment when millions of Syrians try to return home, it warned.

Meanwhile, in South Sudan, the UN agency said that it requires US$281 million to provide food and nutrition assistance to 2.3 million people escaping war, climate extremes, and an economic disaster – plunging them into a severe hunger crisis.

South Sudan has also seen more than one million people arrive, fleeing from the war in Sudan. Nearly two-thirds of the people in South Sudan are acutely food insecure, it noted.

New funding for WFP’s crisis response activities in South Sudan is needed now to preposition life-saving food ahead of the rainy season, it said.

In Myanmar, WFP said it requires US$60 million to provide life-saving food assistance to 1.2 million people.

Without immediate new funding, a pipeline break in April will cut off one million from all support, it added.

Increased conflict, displacement and access restrictions are already sharply driving up food aid needs as the lean season is expected to begin in July when food shortages hit hardest, WFP underlined.

[In light of the powerful earthquake that struck central Myanmar on the afternoon of 28 March, WFP informed that it has began emergency food distributions to affected communities, so far reaching over 24,000 earthquake survivors in four areas of the country, and scaling up efforts to assist 850,000 affected people.

[WFP said it urgently needs US$40 million to support the 850,000 people affected by the earthquake, adding that Myanmar is already facing severe food insecurity, with 15.2 million people – one in four – food insecure.

[It said that despite escalating humanitarian needs, WFP’s funding shortfalls recently forced the suspension of assistance to over one million people, leaving only 35,000 of the most vulnerable currently receiving monthly support from WFP.]

In Haiti, WFP said it requires US$10 million to feed 1.3 million as brutal violence by armed groups has caused record levels of hunger and displacement.

Half the population is facing extreme hunger and a quarter of the children under the age of five are stunted, it pointed out.

More than a million people have been forced from their homes, including a record 60,000 in just one month this year.

WFP said it has been providing hot meals and cash assistance to displaced people, but without new funding, that lifesaving assistance could be suspended in the coming weeks.

WFP said it requires US$570 million to reach 5 million people with life-saving food and nutrition assistance in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, adding that without new funding a pipeline break is expected in April.

According to WFP, millions of the most vulnerable people in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Nigeria in need of emergency support also face dire consequences as the June to August lean season approaches.

At current funding levels, five million people risk losing critical support from WFP in the months ahead, the UN agency said.

According to the latest information posted on WFP’s website, as of 24 March 2025, the UN agency has received only US$1.57 billion in funding for this year.

The WFP has projected that its operational requirements for 2025 will be US$16.9 billion to assist 123 million people.

For the whole of 2024, WFP received US$9.75 billion, far less than the US$21.1 billion that it required to meet food and nutrition needs that year. – Third World Network