UN warns hunger is worsening in 13 global hotspots as famine risk rises

The World Food Programme published a new FAO-WFP Hunger Hotspots outlook on June 17, 2026, warning that acute food insecurity is expected to worsen for millions of people across 13 countries and territories between June and November.

The report is not a declaration of famine across those hotspots. It is an early-warning document meant to show where conditions could deteriorate sharply unless aid access, funding, conflict conditions and seasonal risks change before November.

Where the warning is most severe

The WFP publication identifies Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen and Palestine as the most critical hotspots by the severity and magnitude of hunger. The Associated Press, reporting on the same UN food-agency warning, described Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen and the Gaza Strip as the areas that remain of greatest concern, while saying Nigeria and Somalia were newly added to that highest-concern category as conditions worsen and famine risks rise.

That distinction matters because the warning is both regional and highly specific. AP reported that the threat of famine between now and November looms over Nigeria’s Borno state, Somalia’s Burhakaba district, South Sudan’s Jonglei and Upper Nile states, and Sudan’s North Darfur, South Darfur and South Kordofan regions.

Other hotspots named in AP’s account include Afghanistan, Congo, Myanmar, Haiti and Mali, along with newly added Lebanon and Madagascar. Together, the list points to overlapping emergencies across parts of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean rather than a single food-system failure in one region.

What changed in this outlook

The clearest change is the escalation of concern around Nigeria and Somalia, while older crises in Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen and Gaza or Palestine remain fragile. AP reported that about 266 million people already face high levels of acute food insecurity, giving the June-to-November warning a large baseline before the seasonal and conflict pressures expected later this year.

WFP’s broader 2026 Global Outlook gives additional context: it says acute hunger remains at alarming levels entering 2026, with an estimated 318 million people facing acute hunger and 41 million at emergency levels or worse. That background does not replace the new hotspot warning, but it helps explain why a deterioration in several conflict zones can quickly stretch the international response.

Why hunger is expected to worsen

The drivers named by the UN food agencies are not limited to crop conditions. Conflict and violence remain the main cause in nearly all of the hotspots, according to AP’s summary of the report. Aid access limits, displacement, disrupted markets, economic shocks and deep cuts in humanitarian funding are compounding those conflicts.

Climate risk is also part of the warning. The agencies cited the expected impact of an El Niño weather pattern that could bring droughts and floods to vulnerable regions. In places where households have already sold assets, fled homes or lost income, another poor rainfall season or blocked supply route can move families from crisis into emergency or catastrophic hunger.

Why U.S. readers should watch the funding gap

For U.S. and English-speaking readers, the practical stake is not domestic grocery prices. It is foreign aid policy, conflict stability, migration pressure and whether emergency food systems can act before famine thresholds are crossed.

AP reported that food assistance and related funding has fallen by about 59% since 2022. It also reported a new United States pledge of $800 million to WFP, which the agency said would help more than 38 million people in at least 37 countries. But AP said WFP’s more than $10 billion appeal for 2026 remains severely underfunded, so the pledge does not close the gap.

The next signals to watch through November are donor pledges, ceasefires or access agreements, rainfall and crop conditions, the ability to pre-position food before roads or ports become harder to use, and any updated food-security classifications from UN-backed monitoring systems. The central question is whether early action arrives before the warning becomes a larger famine emergency.

Sources

• World Food Programme — Hunger Hotspots June-November 2026 outlook
• Associated Press — UN food agencies warn acute hunger will worsen in 13 hot spots