Nearly 14 million people could face severe hunger by the end of the year, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday, as slashed humanitarian funding threatens six of its most critical operations.
Programmes in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan are already facing major disruptions, which will only get worse.
"Every ration cut means a child goes to bed hungry, a mother skips a meal, or a family loses the support they need to survive," said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain.
Record hunger, reduced budget
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The crisis is happening as global hunger reaches record highs, with 319 million people facing acute food insecurity, including 44 million at emergency level. Famine has also taken hold in Sudan and the Gaza Strip.
WFP expects to receive 40 percent less funding this year, resulting in a projected budget of $6.4 billion, down from $10 billion in 2024.
"We are at risk of losing decades of progress in the fight against hunger," said Ms. McCain.
"Even hard-won gains in the Sahel region, where 500,000 people have been lifted out of aid dependence with integrated food assistance and resilience programmes, could soon be wiped out without continued support."
Critical operations at risk
The cuts could push 13.7 million people who receive WFP food assistance from crisis to emergency levels of hunger - a one-third increase, the agency said in a new report.
In Afghanistan, "dramatic reductions" mean that food assistance is reaching less than 10 per cent of those who need it, despite soaring malnutrition rates.
The DRC is facing record levels of hunger and roughly a quarter of the population, 28 million people, are food insecure.
WFP had planned to feed 2.3 million people there this month, which has been slashed to 600,000, and "a complete pipeline break" could occur by February.
"In Haiti, hot meal programmes have already stopped, and families are receiving half WFP's standard monthly rations," the agency said, while "support in Somalia has been downsized repeatedly", from 2.2 million people last year to just 350,000 in November.
All WFP food recipients in South Sudan now get a reduced ration, "which will be missing some foods items from October as in-country stocks run out."
Meanwhile, WFP currently supports four million people each month in war-torn Sudan, but 25 million people, half the population, are facing acute food insecurity.
Commitment to deliver
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WFP said that its preparation efforts also have suffered. For the first time in nearly a decade there are no contingency stocks for the hurricane season in Haiti, and no pre-positioning of food in Afghanistan as winter approaches.
Although the cuts have different impacts across its operations, the agency remains committed to delivering food assistance in the world's hungriest places.
"The devastating harm inflicted by cuts to food assistance not only threatens lives, but also risks undermining stability, fuelling displacement, and stoking wider social and economic upheaval," said Ms. McCain.
"Swift and effective food assistance is a vital bulwark against chaos in nations already struggling to cope."
