WFP warns that food crisis in Haiti may worsen due to conflict in the Middle East

Geneva.- The increase in fuel prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East is raising food prices, which may worsen the food crisis in Haiti, where more than half of the population suffers from severe levels of hunger, warned this Friday the World Food Programme (WFP). Although food security has improved slightly compared to the forecasts for 2026, the modest progress “can quickly be reversed”, underlined a statement from the United Nations humanitarian agency. According to WFP figures, some 5.8 million Haitians, approximately 52% of the population, are experiencing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity (category 3 out of 5).

Although the figure is slightly higher than that of October 2025 (5.7 million), the number of people in emergency situations (level 4 of 5) has decreased in these months, from 1.9 to 1.8 million.

The food insecurity in the country occurs in a context of years of conflict due to the activity of armed gangs that control part of Port-au-Prince and other areas of the country, added to the economic instability and the vulnerability of the Caribbean country to hurricanes and other extreme weather phenomena.

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The conflict has displaced more than 1.4 million people in Haiti, of whom 300,000 live in temporary shelters in the capital in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, WFP recalled.

The agency also indicated that it needs about $332 million to maintain its essential assistance operations in the country this year, where it plans to assist more than 2.7 million people.