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UNITED NATIONS, CMC – A United Nations-backed index measuring hunger and malnutrition in global hotspots has warned that 5.7 million Haitians are facing a deteriorating food security situation, as armed groups continue to expand their territorial control around the French-speaking Caribbean country.
The latest internationally recognised Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) hunger report provides an analysis for the period of September 2025 until February 2026 and a projection for March until June of next year.
The UN on Friday said the report noted that 1.9 million people in Haiti – or 17 per cent of the population – are suffering emergency levels of acute food insecurity, “which leaves them with food gaps, high acute malnutrition and excess mortality rates.”
The report says another 3.8 million people – or 34 per cent of the population – are facing crisis levels of acute food insecurity, meaning that they might be forced to deplete essential livelihood assets just to meet basic nutritional needs.
IPC expects that food security will deteriorate further from March to June 2026 in connection with the lean season, a period between harvests when food supply tends to be low and prices, high.
The report says over half of the Haitian population – 54 per cent – is projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity.
“The situation is worsened by armed groups’ creeping control of territory and the country’s declining economy, which has led to mass displacement and the destruction of livelihoods.”
It added that, in regions controlled by armed groups, farmers who have managed to still carry out agricultural activity are forced not only to negotiate access to plots of land but also to share their produce.
Additionally, households in gang-occupied regions that relied on small businesses have been forced to abandon their sources of income, and many people have lost their jobs following business closures.
Despite the support of humanitarian actors, the IPC report says Haitians face overcrowding, characterised by “precarious living conditions and a lack of sanitation facilities.”
“This increases the likelihood of sexual violence, spread of diseases such as cholera, and psychological distress for the displaced, who already lack adequate access to safe water, food and proper healthcare.”
To alleviate the crisis, the IPC recommends an emergency intervention to prevent the poorest households from resorting to harmful coping strategies and an expansion of already existing social protection programmes, among other actions.
