More than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced acute hunger requiring urgent food, nutrition and livelihoods assistance (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above). The worst food crises in 2018 were, in order of severity, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Sudan, South Sudan and northern Nigeria. These eight countries accounted for two thirds of the total number of people facing acute food insecurity – amounting to nearly 72 million people.

For several years the number of people unable to meet their daily food needs without humanitarian assistance has been rising, primarily driven by two factors: persistent instability in conflict-ridden regions and adverse climate events. While critical to saving lives and alleviating human suffering, the increasing levels of humanitarian assistance do not address the root causes of these food crises.

In response, those coordinating emergency humanitarian assistance are working more seriously with those in development support and conflict prevention to find ways to reverse the current trend in escalating numbers of people in need of urgent food and livelihood assistance.

This Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) contributes to these humanitarian and development efforts by providing the global and national food security community with timely, independent and consensus-based information on the severity, magnitude and drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition in food crisis contexts. This information supports humanitarian and development actors to plan and fund evidence-based responses, while using the data to seek high-level political action for durable solutions to food crises.

For the 2019 edition of the GRFC, 15 agencies in the international humanitarian and development community joined forces to share their data, analysis, knowledge and expertise regarding food insecurity and malnutrition in countries facing crisis. This initiative is undertaken by the Global Network Against Food Crises and coordinated by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN).