The World Food Programme (WFP) warned [15] March 17 that the escalating hostilities in the Middle East could lead to record levels of food insecurity, and the largest disruption in the global economy and humanitarian efforts since the COVID-19 pandemic.
WFP deputy executive director and chief operating officer Carl Skau said: "If this conflict continues, it will send shockwaves across the globe, and families who already cannot afford their next meal will be hit the hardest." Skau urged the international community to mount an adequately funded humanitarian response.
Since the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran in late February, the conflict has spread to encompass much of the region, causing thousands of civilian casualties and forcibly displacing over 3 million people. The WFP predicts 45 million people may slide into acute hunger (a level known as IPC Phase 3+ [17]) if the conflict continues. Due to the heavy reliance of food and aid distribution on energy, the skyrocketing price of oil has placed heightened strain on already strained aid supply lines. The disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has also increased fertilizer costs, posing a more long-term threat to food security.
In 2025, an estimated 318 million people across 68 countries were already experiencing acute food insecurity, with 41.1 million under "Emergency" conditions or worse (IPC Phase 4+). The number of people facing catastrophic hunger (Phase 5) remained [18] alarmingly high in 2025, exceeding 1 million.
Import-reliant countries, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, face the greatest risk. Humanitarian organizations are already spread thin by tightening budgets, as well as the proliferation and exacerbation of global crises. Global funding for foreign aid has contracted exponentially in recent years, with a sharp decline following President Trump's signing of Executive Order 14169 [19], which effectively suspended [20] most operations of USAID. Together, these developments place extraordinary pressure on humanitarian organizations, leaving millions at risk of famine. Sudan and Somalia were named as particularly vulnerable.
From JURIST [21], March 19. Used with permission.
Note: Hunger in the Global South has already been exacerbated by Trump's trade tariffs regime [22], while spikes in the price of oil and grain since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022 have contributed to popular privation and unrest [23] worldwide.
