FAO and WFP Warn on July 15 That Hunger Could Worsen in 13 Hotspots, Including Five Sahel Countries

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Food Programme warned on July 15 that acute food insecurity is likely to worsen across 13 countries and territories between June and November 2026, urging immediate humanitarian action before conditions deteriorate further.

The warning identifies a near-term food-access crisis driven by several pressures at once: conflict, climate shocks, displacement, high food prices and gaps in humanitarian funding. The agencies’ assessment is a projection, not a final count of people facing hunger, and it does not establish that any of the 13 hotspots is experiencing famine.

What the warning says

The alert is part of the regular joint FAO-WFP early-warning process. Its purpose is to identify places where acute food insecurity could worsen and where early action may reduce the risk of more severe humanitarian conditions.

FAO and WFP identified 13 countries and territories as food-security hotspots for the period through November 2026. The available FAO summary does not list all 13 locations, so the warning should not be presented as a complete country-by-country ranking.

The agencies called for urgent humanitarian action. Their warning links the expected deterioration to the combined effects of conflict, climate shocks, displacement and elevated food prices, while the broader context also includes funding gaps that can limit the response.

Pressure in the Sahel

A separate joint FAO-WFP briefing on food crises focused on Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. The five countries entered the 2026 lean season amid deteriorating food-security conditions, according to the briefing.

FAO and WFP projected that 9.1 million people across those countries would face crisis-level food insecurity or worse during the June-August 2026 lean season. “Crisis-level food insecurity or worse” describes the severity of the projection; it is not a statement that all 9.1 million people are experiencing famine.

The lean season is a particularly important period for food access in the briefing because the projection covers the months before the next harvest period can relieve pressure. The approved sources do not provide additional country-level figures, household-level outcomes or a breakdown of how many people fall into each severity category.

Why it matters

Food insecurity can worsen when households face multiple simultaneous shocks. Conflict and displacement can disrupt access to markets, farms and livelihoods. Climate shocks can damage agricultural production or increase pressure on already limited resources. High food prices can make available food less affordable, while funding gaps can restrict assistance to people already facing severe need.

For households in the affected hotspots, the warning points to a risk of declining access to food during a defined near-term window. It also matters for agricultural livelihoods because the same pressures that affect food access can interfere with people’s ability to farm, work or maintain income, although the sources do not quantify those effects.

For readers outside the affected regions, the alert is a measure of where international humanitarian needs may intensify next. It is not a prediction that all 13 hotspots will reach the same level of need, nor does it provide enough information to calculate a single global total.

What happens next

The agencies’ immediate request is for humanitarian action before projected deterioration becomes more severe. The relevant warning period runs through November 2026, while the Sahel projection covers June through August.

Those projections may change as harvests, prices, conflict and humanitarian access evolve. The next known step is therefore continued monitoring and response by humanitarian actors as conditions develop. The July 15 warning provides an early signal, not a final assessment of how many people will ultimately require assistance.

Sources

• FAO Emergency and Resilience publications, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• Joint FAO-WFP Geneva Informal Briefing on Food Crises, FAO and WFP

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