Last update: May 2026
This section presents information-and decision-support tools to strengthen the ability of policymakers, food policy experts, and researchers to respond quickly to dynamic developments in the world food system.
Here you can find the latest information on current food crises through the Global Report on Food Crises, information from across Early Warning Systems, Vulnerability to Global Market Shocks V.2: Price Shocks to Major Staple Foods, and the Excessive Food Price Variability tool where you can track daily updates in food price volatility.
The 2026 Global Report on Food Crises
Click here to access the Global Report on Food Crises page in the Food Security Portal.
Key messages
The 2025 assessment of global food crises reveals a persistent and deepening state of acute food insecurity, with 22.9 percent of the analyzed population—approximately 266 million people—facing critical deficits in food consumption. While the absolute number of affected individuals appears to have stabilized compared to 2024, this is primarily a statistical byproduct of reduced geographic data coverage rather than a substantive improvement in humanitarian conditions. Since 2020, the proportion of the population in crisis has consistently exceeded the 20 percent threshold, representing a nearly twofold increase relative to 2016 benchmarks.
The severity of the crisis is most pronounced in the Catastrophe (IPC/CH Phase 5) classification, which now encompasses 1.4 million people, marking a nine-fold increase over the past decade. Furthermore, 39 million individuals remain in Emergency (IPC/CH Phase 4) status. Vulnerability is heavily concentrated in protracted crisis contexts, notably in Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen, where structural vulnerabilities and recurrent shocks converge. The nutritional impact is devastating, as 35.5 million children and 9.2 million pregnant or breastfeeding women suffer from acute malnutrition, underscoring a systemic failure to protect the most vulnerable biological cohorts.
Conflict and insecurity remain the predominant drivers of this instability, affecting over half of the global food-insecure population, while climatological extremes act as the primary driver for approximately one-third of those affected. A critical concern for the humanitarian sector is the divergence between rising needs and declining resources; funding for food sectors has regressed to 2016–2017 levels. This financial contraction threatens the integrity of data systems underpinning the Global Report on Food Crises, potentially undermining evidence-based decision-making. As of early 2026, the escalation of conflict in the Middle East poses further risks of global agrifood market disruptions, suggesting that severity levels will remain critical for the foreseeable future.
To download the report:
FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises. 2026. Global Report on Food Crises 2026. Rome.
Excessive Food Price Volatility Early Warning System
The system monitors excessive volatility in food and fertilizer prices, identifying abnormal fluctuations to provide early warnings that support timely food-security responses.
Early Warning Hub
The Early Warning Hub consolidates alerts and data from multiple systems, providing timely information to help decision makers anticipate and address food crises.