By Salma El-Sakka
Nearly six million people in Haiti are experiencing severe hunger, with almost two million facing emergency conditions, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a multi-partner UN initiative.
Gang violence and El Niño drive crisis
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said 5.94 million Haitians face high acute food insecurity, one of the highest levels globally. More than half of the country’s nearly 12 million people struggle to eat daily, and the number with severe hunger is projected to reach 6.35 million by mid-2027, up by nearly 250,000 since April.
Aid access hindered by conflict
Gang violence in central Haiti has displaced farmers and blocked main roads to Port-au-Prince, preventing food deliveries. Action Against Hunger’s country director Maxime Ngalula said negotiations with gangs can take days, forcing families to travel up to nine miles to reach distribution sites. His organization provides cash, rice and beans but struggles to track people moving between makeshift shelters.
Funding gap and rising violence
The World Food Programme requires $78 million to sustain operations through March, urging urgent scale-up of humanitarian aid. The crisis deepened after four Salvadoran aviation technicians went missing in an October 18 attack in Port-au-Prince, prompting El Salvador to deploy over 1,000 soldiers. Doctors Without Borders mission head Davina Hayles warned the armed conflict could claim more victims and displace more people with the arrival of additional international forces.
