Haiti Hunger Crisis Deepens

The number of Haitians experiencing severe hunger reached 5.94 million as of this week, according to a report released on Wednesday. The analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a multi-partner U.N. initiative, indicates that nearly six million people are currently in emergency conditions. This figure represents a near quarter million increase since the organization's previous assessment in April.

The report projects that the count of people facing severe hunger will climb to 6.35 million by mid-2027. That number would exceed half of the country's total population of nearly 12 million. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization described the current level of acute food insecurity as one of the highest in the world. More than half of the Haitian population now struggles to eat every day.

Gang violence, high prices for food and fuel, and extreme weather patterns linked to El Niño drive the crisis. Heavily armed gangs control parts of the central region and block main roads leading to Port-au-Prince. These blockages prevent goods from reaching the capital and other areas. Farmers have been chased from their lands in the central region, reducing local food production.

Maxime Ngalula, country director for Action Against Hunger in Haiti, called the numbers alarming compared to previous years. He noted that negotiations with gangs to access areas can take several days. Families sometimes travel up to 15 kilometers to reach a food distribution site. Ngalula said his organization distributes cash, rice, and beans, but challenges persist for those displaced from their homes.

The hunger crisis has worsened since 2014, when only 2 percent of the population was food insecure. Hurricane Matthew in 2016 destroyed crops, and subsequent gang violence accelerated the decline. The World Food Program stated it requires $78 million to sustain operations in Haiti through March. The organization urged that humanitarian assistance be scaled up urgently to meet immediate needs.

Fighting between gangs and the U.N.-backed security force has intensified recently. Four Salvadoran aviation technicians went missing in an attack on October 18 in Port-au-Prince. El Salvador has since deployed more than 1,000 soldiers to the country. Davina Hayles, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders in Haiti, expressed concern about the surge in violence in densely populated neighborhoods of the capital.

Hayles warned that the armed conflict could claim more victims and displace more people in the coming days. This risk increases with the arrival of additional international security forces. The latest report confirms that the convergence of conflict, displacement, and economic pressure has pushed a majority of the population into severe hunger.