New estimates from the 79 countries where WFP has an operational presence, and where data is available, show the number of acutely food-insecure people will hit a record high of 349 million in 2022. This is an increase of about 200 million people compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Hunger has also grown more deeply entrenched. Up to 49 million people across 49 countries are in Emergency or worse levels of acute food insecurity. Without urgent life-saving action, these populations will be at risk of falling into famine-like conditions. For the first time since the existence of the Integrated Phase Classification system, almost 1 million people are in, or projected to face, Catastrophic conditions in 2022.
On top of this, the world’s children are facing an epidemic of malnutrition. As many as 60 million children under 5 could be acutely malnourished by the end of 2022, putting them at higher risk of death, illness and long-term development impairments.
Faced with a global hunger crisis of unparalleled proportions, WFP activated a Corporate Scale-Up in June 2022 to address the worst Global Food Crisis in modern history. To guide its response and to address the immediate impacts of the crisis, WFP developed a Global Concept of Operations around 3 pillars: 1) Stepping up direct food and nutrition assistance to save lives and prevent mortality; 2) Providing technical assistance and services to support national social protection systems; and 3) Leveraging partnerships, services and programmes to strengthen food systems.
WFP is targeting a record 160 million food-insecure people in 2022, a significant increase from the already record-high 128 million beneficiaries reached in 2021. Between January and September 2022, WFP reached 133 million people.
