More than 88 million people in East and Central Africa faced food insecurity and were requiring urgent humanitarian assistance in June 2025, a latest report has revealed.
A joint report released Monday by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, said that of these, 57.1 million people were in seven of the eight IGAD member states, namely Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda.
“Levels of acute food insecurity across the region remained concerning, with ongoing or approaching lean seasons compounding the effects of conflict, climatic shocks, and macroeconomic challenges in many countries,” the agencies said.
The two organisations noted that countries battling conflict are the worst affected as the crises continue to disrupt livelihoods and undermine food security across the region.
These countries include Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the last three being the worst affected.
As of the end of June, FAO and IGAD said an estimated 23.8 million people had been forcibly displaced across the region, including 18 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 5.8 million refugees and asylum seekers.
They observed that conflict, insecurity, and climatic shocks remained the primary drivers of displacement in the region.
According to the institutions, Sudan accounted for over half of the region’s total IDPs, at 10.1 million, 2.4 million displaced before the start of the ongoing conflict, and 7.7 million after.
MG/as/APA