The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is calling for urgent international support after new data showed that more than half of Haiti’s population continues to face acute food insecurity, warning that recent fragile gains in the fight against hunger could quickly be reversed.
An updated assessment from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) found that 5.8 million people in Haiti—about 52 per cent of the population—are currently experiencing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse (IPC Phase 3 and above).
Of those, more than 1.8 million people are facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4) for the March to June 2026 period, meaning they are depleting their remaining assets and are unable to meet basic food needs.
Despite the challenging operating environment, the WFP said it assisted 2.7 million people in Haiti in 2025 through emergency food aid, school feeding programmes, social protection initiatives, and support for smallholder farmers. The agency said these efforts contributed to a slight improvement in food security compared to earlier projections, but warned that progress remains fragile.
Rising global fuel prices, driven in part by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, are now adding further pressure by increasing transportation and food costs.
“These small improvements to food security numbers must not lead to complacency,” said Wanja Kaaria, WFP Haiti Country Director. “Elevated fuel prices and the resulting rise in food costs risk rolling back these gains, pushing already vulnerable families deeper into crisis and further destabilising the situation.”
The WFP stressed that hunger remains a central driver of instability in Haiti, urging both national and international partners to scale up emergency relief while also investing in long-term solutions.
“Tackling hunger is vital to restoring stability in Haiti. We cannot build peace when families have nothing to feed their children,” Kaaria said, warning that armed groups exploit food insecurity to recruit vulnerable people, including children and young mothers.
Haiti’s food crisis has deepened over nearly a decade, fuelled by armed violence, political instability, economic challenges, and repeated climate shocks, including Hurricane Melissa, which struck the country’s south in late 2025. According to the WFP, more than 1.4 million people have been displaced, with around 300,000 currently living in overcrowded temporary shelters in the capital.
The agency said it requires US$332 million over the next 12 months to sustain operations and aims to reach more than 2.7 million people with emergency assistance and resilience-building support if sufficient funding is secured.
