The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is seeking $1.9 billion for 2025 to save the lives and livelihoods of some of the world's most food-insecure populations, as acute hunger tightens its grip across the world's major food crises. With these funds, nearly 49 million people would be able to produce their own food and make their own way out of acute food insecurity.
The announcement was made as part of the United Nations' large-scale humanitarian appeal launched today.
In 2024, escalating violence drove extreme hunger crises in places such as Gaza, the Sudan and Haiti. The number of people facing, or projected to face, catastrophic hunger conditions [classified as Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 5] more than doubled - from 705,000 people across five countries/territories in 2023 to 1.9 million people by mid-2024 in Gaza, Haiti, Mali, South Sudan and the Sudan. Famine conditions were declared in Zamzam Camp in the Sudan, and other parts of the country were at risk.
At the same time, weather extremes driven by the El Niño and La Niña phenomena and the broader climate crisis also pushed millions to the brink. Already vulnerable women, men, girls and boys were critically affected by droughts in Southern Africa, parts of the Pacific and across Central America's Dry Corridor and severe flooding in West Africa.
Globally, the immediate future is deeply concerning, with no sign that the major drivers of acute hunger - conflict, climate extremes, economic downturns - will ease in 2025.
"Emergency agriculture assistance is a lifeline and offers a pathway out of hunger, even in the midst of violence and climate shocks. It has life-saving impacts on vulnerable populations enabling them to continue producing food locally to feed themselves, their families and their communities," Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General, said.
"However, we are seeing significant gaps in funding these types of agricultural interventions. In crisis settings, over two-thirds of people rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Yet all too often, just a fraction of humanitarian aid for crises is allocated to protect agricultural livelihoods." she emphasized.
Missed opportunities in 2024
Over the past five years, Afghanistan has been the only major food crisis that has registered a steady reduction in acute food insecurity, thanks to sustained and scaled-up funding between 2021 and 2023. This support enabled humanitarian agencies to deliver a combination of cash, food and emergency agriculture assistance to millions of people, driving a reduction in acute food insecurity from 47 percent of the population in 2022 to 28 percent by late 2024.
Similar, life-changing impacts could be achieved in other major crises with the same scaling up of finances. However, even in Afghanistan, these gains remain fragile should funding for these activities be cut significantly, especially if predicted climate shocks threaten agricultural livelihoods in 2025.
Since the peak of humanitarian allocations in 2022, there has been a steady decline in available funds, with food sector allocations seeing a 30 percent reduction. Unless the necessary resources are made available, FAO warns that lives will be lost and hard-earned development gains will be reversed, with more people sliding into acute hunger - a price too high to pay.
Delivering in emergencies
In crises, FAO helps people to access food from day one, through life-saving and life-sustaining interventions that include: cash and vouchers for immediate needs; animal feed and vaccinations to protect livestock so people, in particular children, have continued access to protein and milk; poultry so eggs are available within days; and vegetable seeds for nutrition-dense food within weeks and staple crops that can keep families fed for several months even when wars rage around them.
In 2024, FAO requested $1.8 billion under its humanitarian response plans to reach 43 million people with a range of agricultural assistance. Despite receiving just 22 percent of those funds, by mid-year FAO had reached approximately 20 million people in crisis countries with combinations of emergency and resilience assistance. Where families received life-sustaining crop production support, they saw returns of about $4 to every $1 in inputs provided by FAO.
For example, in the Sudan, despite the violence and access challenges, FAO and its partners distributed over 5,000 tonnes of vital sorghum and other staple crop seeds and over 8 000 kg of okra seeds to nearly 3 million people since June 2024 in eleven states. With favourable rains this season, an estimated production of 0.9 to 1.4 million tonnes of sorghum grain is projected.
Anticipatory action is crucial
Working with governments and partners, FAO helped 1.7 million people in 24 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia to avert the worst impacts of the El Niño phenomenon on their livelihoods.
For example, in Somalia, FAO's work to anticipate El Niño-linked floods played a crucial role in reducing loss of life. River embankments and dykes that had been built and reinforced in Beledweyne held back water for approximately five days, while timely early warning messaging facilitated the evacuation of 90 percent of the population.
Anticipatory action is a proven cost-effective measure for mitigating the impact of disasters with significant resilience dividends. By delivering support before a crisis has occurred, efficient and timely anticipatory action can curb food insecurity, reduce humanitarian needs and ease pressure on strained humanitarian resources.
