Between April and May 2026, around 1.77 million people in Burundi (14 percent of the analysed population) faced high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above), including roughly 1.5 million people in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) and 220,000 people in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency). The Imbo Plain and the Northern Depressions were the worst-affected zones, each with about 20 percent of their population in Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse)

Food security is expected to improve through the June–September 2026 projection period, as a result of the anticipated 2026B harvest, replenished household stocks, and better market supply. The number of people in Phase 3 or above is projected to fall to about 1.02 million people, representing a reduction of roughly 750,000 people.

The most affected populations were poor and very poor households, alongside returnees from Tanzania, refugees, and internally displaced people, whose limited access to land and productive assets left them highly exposed.

However, anticipated improvements are seasonal, and mask persistent structural vulnerabilities—high food prices, high transport costs, limited access to agricultural inputs, and pressure from population movements—that continue to threaten the expected gains.