Global food crisis intensifies due to climate shocks and aid cuts

A growing global food crisis is being driven by a combination of armed conflicts, climate shocks, and significant reductions in humanitarian aid. While the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) noted a slight attenuation in global hunger in 2025, experts warn that political decisions are undermining food security.

In the United States, the dismantling of the USAID program under the Trump administration has disrupted major foreign aid initiatives. Simultaneously, several European nations have implemented drastic cuts to their development cooperation budgets, placing increased pressure on the World Food Programme.

In Central America, the El Niño phenomenon has caused severe droughts, devastating corn and bean crops across the ‘dry corridor’ in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. In El Salvador, some agricultural associations report that entire harvests of corn, beans, and sorghum have been lost. The World Food Programme estimates that these climate-driven factors could push an additional 49 million people into acute hunger by the end of 2027, increasing the total number of people facing food insecurity to 274 million across 45 countries.