El Niño Strengthening Threatens Nearly 50 Million More People with Acute Hunger

Nearly 50 million additional people in highly vulnerable communities worldwide are expected to slip into acute hunger as the El Niño weather phenomenon intensifies, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday. The agency cited recent climate data showing that the warming of the Pacific Ocean is already disrupting rainfall patterns and crop yields across the globe.

The WFP highlighted that the most affected regions include parts of sub‑Saharan Africa, the Horn of Africa, South Asia and the Pacific Islands, where food security is already fragile. Rising temperatures and erratic precipitation are expected to reduce harvests of staples such as maize, wheat and rice, while increasing the frequency of droughts and floods. The programme has called for urgent international assistance to expand emergency food distribution, strengthen local supply chains and support agricultural resilience projects.

In response to the forecast, WFP officials urged governments and donors to accelerate funding for nutrition and livelihood interventions. The agency also announced plans to deploy additional field teams to monitor food availability and to coordinate with partner NGOs to deliver lifesaving aid before the peak of the El Niño season.