IGAD report: 40.3 million people face acute food insecurity in East Africa

Over 40.3 million people across six countries in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region are facing high levels of acute food insecurity. While the total number is down from 43.3 million in 2025 due to improvements in Uganda and Sudan, conditions have worsened in Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan.

Sudan remains the most critical area, with 19.5 million people—approximately 41 percent of the analyzed population—facing acute food insecurity. In South Sudan, the crisis affects 55 percent of the population, totaling roughly 7.8 million people. Somalia reports 6.5 million people facing acute hunger, an increase of 1.9 million since 2025.

The crisis is driven by conflict, drought, economic shocks, and declining humanitarian funding. Approximately nine million children under the age of five are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 2.3 million cases of severe malnutrition. IGAD officials have called for a shift from emergency response to proactive threat anticipation and resilience building to address what they describe as a structural crisis.