As Hurricane season begins WFP raises the alarm on Haiti

Our WFP team and partners on the ground have seen this crisis slowly unfolding and we’ve been sounding the alarm about the ever-deteriorating humanitarian situation for far too long.  Immense humanitarian efforts are already underway, but the situation continues to degrade. 

Food security update 

Hunger in Haiti has never been worse: 5.7 million people – more than half of the country’s population – don't have enough to eat.  This includes more than two million people who are facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC 4) and 8,400 people living in temporary sites for displaced people who are experiencing extreme hunger, severe acute malnutrition and the risk of starvation (IPC5).

Haiti is one of five countries in the world where people are facing catastrophic levels of hunger. It’s really dramatic to have this in the Western hemisphere. We cannot imagine the situation in the sites housing displaced people. 

Last week I visited the suburban commune of Petionville, in the southeast of Port-au-Prince, where WFP was providing emergency food assistance to thousands of people displaced by violence by armed groups in Kenscoff, a rural mountainside community. These are people who used to come and sell their food in the city. Their story bears testimony of food systems and supply chains breaking down as a result of the expansion of armed groups. Not only were these families forced to flee when criminals took control over their farmland, they now rely on WFP to survive.  Conflict has also disrupted agricultural activities and commercial flow of food.

As a woman of course I am watching the situation for women and girls. We’re also extremely worried about the widespread violence that women and girls face in Haiti. With more than 6,000 cases of gender-based violence reported so far this year, Port-au-Prince is one of the most dangerous places in the world for women and girls. Food assistance lessens their vulnerability to abuse.  

Running out of resources for emergency response and school meals

Violence, displacement and economic collapse are driving Haiti to the verge of total collapse. We are extremely concerned that growing humanitarian needs are outpacing resources to respond to this crisis. 

WFP has significantly scaled up operations in Haiti, reaching over 1.35 million people until March 2025 and we continue providing support. But now we only have stocks and cash to support crisis-affected populations until July.  This includes assistance to displaced people as well as to those living in areas facing IPC 4, emergency levels of hunger. Severe funding gaps are threatening the continuity of essential programmes that help anchor communities and prevent further deterioration. Among these, WFP’s flagship school meals programme—a key stabilizing force in the country—is at immediate risk. 

This academic year, we’ve managed to provide daily meals to 550,000 schoolchildren, 70 percent of which were sourced from Haitian farmers.  Without urgent funding, up to 50 percent of these schoolchildren will not receive meals in the next academic year. What is important is that this food is purchased mostly locally, from smallholder farmers, women and men still producing in areas of rural Haiti. We really need to ensure these children can continue going to school and we can continue to support these farmers to have normal livelihoods.

The Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti in 2025 is only 8 percent funded and we’re halfway through the year. WFP alone needs US$ 46.4 million over the next six months, to sustain its emergency response and address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition.   

Lack of preparedness for hurricane season

On top of the dire situation I have already described, we have now officially entered the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which runs from June to November. 

This year, for the first time ever, WFP has no prepositioned food stocks in Haiti, nor the cash liquidity to mount a swift humanitarian response in the case of a hurricane or extreme weather event. In previous years, we’ve always had in-country resources to be able to support between 250,000 and 500,000 people in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Unless resources are made available, WFP will have no capacity to respond—there are no contingency supplies, no logistical buffer, and no lifeline for the most vulnerable. 

At this moment when half of all Haitians are already going hungry, a single storm could push millions into a humanitarian catastrophe. 

WFP expanding operational capacity

Against all these odds, I want to stress that WFP remains fully operational in Haiti. 

During my visit last week, I went to our logistics hub in Cap Haitien and witnessed first-hand that, despite the extremely challenging context, WFP’s operational capacity has grown. We have more warehousing space and are receiving food through the port. 

Also, the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) remains a vital lifeline for the humanitarian community, ensuring the delivery of critical assistance and enabling the continuity of operations across the country. UNHAS continues to be the only safe and cost-effective option for humanitarian workers and the diplomatic community to get in and out of Port-au-Prince. 

Our priority in Haiti is to continue providing first-line emergency food assistance to save lives, while also addressing the root causes of hunger. To hold the line on hunger, we’re calling on the international community to provide urgent support - and above all, the country needs peace.

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

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