More than 79 million people in Ethiopia continue to face hunger and lack access to enough food, while most of the country’s population can no longer afford a healthy diet, according to a new report released by the United Nations agencies.
The findings are contained in the 2026 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, a 251-page report jointly prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The report released on Monday shows that food insecurity remains a major challenge in Ethiopia despite efforts to improve food production and access.
According to the report, about 79.4 million Ethiopians, representing 60.1 percent of the country’s population, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity between 2023 and 2025. This means millions of people either lacked regular access to enough food or faced serious difficulties in obtaining it during the period under review.
However, the report notes that the estimate does not include data from the Tigray region because researchers were unable to collect reliable information there.
The UN agencies said excluding Tigray likely understates the national situation, as many people in the region continue to face displacement, gaps in humanitarian assistance, and challenges linked to the unfinished peace process.
According to the report, these conditions have continued to disrupt food availability and access in Tigray, making it difficult to capture the full extent of food insecurity across Ethiopia.
The latest findings also show that food insecurity has worsened over the past decade. Between 2014 and 2016, about 58.4 million people, or 56.2 percent of Ethiopia’s population at the time, were classified as experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity.
While the increase from 58.4 million to 79.4 million people already represents a sharp rise, the report says the comparison is even more alarming because the latest figures exclude Tigray. This suggests the actual number of people facing food insecurity could be higher than the published estimate.
The report also highlights the growing challenge of affordability, noting that food security is no longer only about having enough food available but also whether families can afford to buy nutritious meals.
According to the UN agencies, around 92 million Ethiopians, representing 67.9 percent of the population, could not afford a healthy diet in 2025. The report says this contrast with the global trend, where the affordability of healthy diets has generally improved in recent years.
The UN agencies said the high cost of nutritious food remains one of the main reasons many households are unable to meet their nutritional needs.
“Roughly 92 million Ethiopians — 67.9 percent of the population — couldn’t afford a nutritionally adequate diet in 2025,” the report says, adding that this represents a different pattern from the global situation, “where affordability has generally been improving.”
MG/as/APA