- 2.7 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet.
- Africa now has about 309 million hungry people, more than Asia’s 292 million.
- 4.9 million children died before age five in 2024. For the first time, UN estimates attribute more than 100,000 of those deaths directly to severe acute malnutrition.
- Malnutrition is also an underlying factor in a much larger share of child deaths. UNICEF links it to almost half of all under-five deaths, roughly 3 million a year, by weakening children’s ability to survive common illnesses.
War & Displacement
- Sudan: Nearly 19.5 million people, two in five, face acute food insecurity. Risk of famine has been identified in 14 areas across Darfur and South Kordofan. 825,000 children under five are expected to suffer severe acute malnutrition in 2026.
- Yemen: One in two people in government-controlled areas faces high levels of acute food insecurity, with a collapsing economy compounding the conflict. 23.1 million people need humanitarian aid in 2026.
- Syria: 16.5 million people need humanitarian aid.
- Wider region: In South Sudan, 7.8 million people face high levels of acute food insecurity, and in Somalia, 6 million.
Conflict destroys farms, markets, and roads, and displaced families lose their land, tools, and income. A child with severe malnutrition can decline in weeks.
