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  • Publication | 2025
A lifeline at risk: food assistance at a breaking point
Global Food and Nutrition Security

Key messages:

  • WFP estimates that its funding shortfalls could push 10.5–13.7 million people currently experiencing Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of acute food insecurity into Emergency (IPC Phase 4).
  • There is already ample evidence of impacts on food insecurity and malnutrition, some of which are irreversible, with women, children, refugees and IDPs particularly affected. We expect these impacts to worsen into 2026 as funding runs out.
  • The humanitarian system is under severe strain as partners pull back from frontline locations, creating a vacuum. Programme coverage has been slashed and rations cut. Lifesaving assistance to households in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) is at risk, while preparedness for future shocks has dropped drastically.
  • The collapse in humanitarian assistance risks further destabilizing these fragile states. There is already evidence of broader impacts in some countries, such as forced migration.