FAO and WFP present June 2026 Hunger Hotspots report, flag six countries at highest risk

FAO and the World Food Programme presented the June 2026 edition of the Hunger Hotspots report, warning that six countries face the highest level of concern for acute food insecurity and urging early action to prevent livelihoods from collapsing and lives being lost.

The Presenter said the report focuses on the most severe situations and projects trends over the next six months, with the stated aim of providing early warning so responses can be mobilized before conditions deteriorate. "What we want to do here is warn early so that action can be taken as early as possible to head off hunger um before livelihoods collapse and before lives are lost," the Presenter said.

The report identifies Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Palestine, Nigeria and Somalia as the contexts at the highest level of concern, where populations are "facing or at risk of facing high levels of acute food insecurity, including starvation and death," the Presenter said. A second tier of "very high" concern includes Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Haiti. The Presenter listed Lebanon, Madagascar, Mali and Myanmar among remaining hotspots that require close monitoring and urgent action because situations could worsen during the outlook period.

The Presenter attributed the heightened risk in many hotspots to overlapping drivers: conflict, climate shocks and microeconomic shocks, and cited spillovers from the Middle East conflict as an additional amplifier. "In many hotspots, and including the countries I mentioned, overlapping conflict, climate, and microeconomic shocks, including the spillovers from the Middle East conflict, they all amplify food insecurity," the Presenter said.

The report's central message, as summarized by the Presenter, is that the crises are foreseeable and predictable and that worst outcomes can be prevented with timely action. The presentation emphasized early warning and the need for urgent response planning rather than describing any specific new funding commitments or formal actions at this briefing.

The Presenter concluded by stressing the preventability of the worst outcomes and the report's role in urging early interventions; no formal votes or decisions were recorded during this presentation.