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  • Publication | 2026
The Global Collapse in Funding for the Food Insecure
Global Food and Nutrition Security

n a planet that is producing more food per person than ever before, it is a moral stain that so many still suffer malnutrition or face the risk of famine. And, if sustained, the recent collapse in global humanitarian funding from $37 billion in 2024 to $21 billion in 2025 will only increase that risk of famine. Most urgently, the forgotten food crises across Africa, South Asia, and Central America must be addressed.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) categorizes food insecurity on a five-point scale. Households in phase three have low enough food consumption that they face high or above-usual acute malnutrition or are depleting essential livelihood assets to avoid that. Slipping into phase four means very high malnutrition, increased death rates, or rapidly liquidating assets to avoid that. Phase five communities face destitution, acute malnutrition, starvation, and widespread death. According to the IPC, about 87 million people are currently in phase three, 25 million in phase four, and 220,000 in phase five. And because the IPC data doesn’t cover all countries, this is an underestimate of global food insecurity.

While the global level of food insecurity has remained broadly constant since 2022, humanitarian funding has rapidly declined, including to the countries where the food insecure live. Between 2019 and 2024, each additional person in IPC phase 3 or higher was associated with that country receiving an average of $73 in additional humanitarian support. In 2025, that fell to $38.