El Niño to Push 49 Million More Into Acute Hunger as WFP Expands Plans in 8 Countries
Updated
Updated · UN News · Aug 5
El Niño to Push 49 Million More Into Acute Hunger as WFP Expands Plans in 8 Countries
3 articles · Updated · UN News · Aug 5
Summary
49 million more people could fall into acute hunger from September as the 2026-27 El Niño strengthens, lifting the total acutely food-insecure population in 45 vulnerable countries from 225 million to 274 million.
A 22% rise is driven by worsening floods, droughts, storms and extreme heat, with Central America and southern Africa expected to be hit hardest and impacts also spreading across eastern Africa and South and Southeast Asia.
16 million additional people in Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 18 million in East and Southern Africa face deteriorating food security; Central America shows the sharpest proportional increase at 83.1%.
8 countries are the focus of stepped-up preparedness, while WFP says anticipatory action in more than 50 countries includes $14 million already deployed since May to support 500,000 people in six countries.
September-December is when El Niño is expected to peak, but WFP says effects will last through 2027 and that every $1 spent on prevention can avert $3 to $7 in later losses and response costs.
With a super El Niño looming, could sudden export bans trigger an unprecedented global food price shock by 2027?
As humanitarian funding plummets, will early cash transfers be enough to save millions from acute climate-driven starvation?
The 2026–2027 El Niño Emergency: Unprecedented Climate Shock, Global Food Crisis, and the Fight for Resilience
Overview
The 2026–2027 El Niño is rapidly intensifying, with sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific reaching record highs and scientific models showing strong agreement on its unprecedented strength. This climate event is colliding with global warming and the economic fallout from the Iran war, creating a double shock that disrupts food and fertilizer supplies, drives up prices, and leaves millions vulnerable to hunger. Humanitarian funding is shrinking just as needs soar, forcing aid agencies to prioritize and local organizations to seek new resources. In response, anticipatory actions, digital agriculture, and local preparedness are being scaled up to protect the most at-risk communities before the worst impacts arrive.