According to the recently launched Global Report on Food Crises, 2021, the severity of food crises worsened in 2020, with protracted conflict, the economic fallout of COVID‑19 and weather extremes highlighted as the key drivers of the dire situation. The report further shows that, in 2020;

• 155M people in 55 countries/territories were in Crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or equivalent – an increase of around 20 million people from 2019.
• 133 000 people in Burkina Faso, South Sudan and Yemen were in Catastrophe (IPC/CH Phase 5) and needed urgent action to prevent widespread death and total collapse of livelihoods.
• 28M people in 38 of the 43 countries/territories with IPC/CH analyses were in Emergency (IPC/CH Phase 4) and needed urgent action to save lives and livelihoods.
• 15.8M children under 5 years in the 55 food-crisis countries/territories were wasted while another 75.2M were stunted.

Forecasts point to a grim outlook for 2021, with 142M people projected to be in Crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) and 155 000 people (108 000 in South Sudan and 47 000 in Yemen) likely to face Catastrophe (IPC/CH Phase 5). In South Sudan, four payams of Pibor county will continue to face Famine Likely (IPC Phase 5).

Download the full report or the Brief