UN-backed report warns 5.7 million Haitians face severe hunger crisis

A new UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report has found that millions of Haitians are facing worsening food insecurity, with nearly one in five people now enduring emergency levels of hunger as armed groups tighten their grip on the country.

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The analysis, covering September 2025 to February 2026 and projecting conditions through June 2026, estimates that 5.7 million people — almost half of Haiti’s population — are suffering from acute food insecurity.

According to the IPC, 1.9 million Haitians (17%) are experiencing emergency-level hunger, marked by severe food shortages, high levels of acute malnutrition, and increased mortality. Another 3.8 million (34%) are in a crisis phase, forced to sell assets or deplete livelihoods just to meet basic food needs.

The situation is expected to worsen during the upcoming lean season (March–June 2026), when harvests are low and food prices spike. The IPC projects that over 54% of the population could face critical hunger levels in that period.

Widespread insecurity has compounded the crisis. Armed groups now control large areas of Haiti, displacing thousands and disrupting trade, transport, and agriculture. Farmers who continue to work their land are often forced to negotiate access or share their crops with gangs, while small businesses have collapsed amid ongoing violence.

“Households in gang-occupied regions that relied on small businesses have been forced to abandon their sources of income,” the IPC noted, adding that mass unemployment and displacement have deepened poverty nationwide.

In displacement camps, overcrowding and poor sanitation have fueled cholera outbreaks, sexual violence, and mental health distress, leaving families without reliable access to water, food, or healthcare.

The IPC urged urgent emergency intervention, including expanding social protection programs and providing immediate food and livelihood assistance to prevent the most vulnerable households from resorting to harmful coping mechanisms such as child labor or early marriage.

Despite ongoing efforts by humanitarian organizations, aid access remains limited due to violence and insecurity, with large parts of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas cut off from relief convoys.

The report serves as yet another warning that without coordinated local and international action, Haiti’s hunger crisis could reach catastrophic levels in the coming months.