ROME — Severe food crises threaten hundreds of thousands of people in fragile regions including the Palestinian territories, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali, a report released Thursday by United Nations food agencies said.

Conflict, economic instability and climate shocks, combined with reduced funding for emergency food and agricultural aid, are leading to alarming levels of acute food insecurity in 22 “hunger hotspots”, the report warned.

Launching the report at a UN press conference in New York, Rein Paulsen, emergencies director at the Food and Agriculture Organization, said: “The spread of conflict, particularly in the Middle East, together with climate and economic stressors, are pushing millions to the brink.”

FAO and the World Food Program said acute food insecurity is forecast to worsen in 16 “hunger hotspots” in 14 countries and two regions over the next six months.

The report stated that Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, Mali and the Palestinian territories remain at the “highest level of concern”.

Chad, Lebanon, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Syria and Yemen are classified as “hotspots of very high concern” where large numbers of people are or are predicted to face critical levels of acute food insecurity.

Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia. While Zambia and Zimbabwe remained on the list of “hunger hot spots” in the organizations’ last assessment in May, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia and Niger were also added to the list, partly due to climate issues.

“Conflict and armed violence remain major causes of hunger in many hotspots, disrupting food systems, displacing populations and impeding access to humanitarian aid,” the report said.

WFP chief economist Arif Husain said other key drivers of hunger were climate extremes and economic disruption, with many of the 22 identified hotspot countries facing multiple challenges.

Famine hotspots also have regional impacts, he told a UN briefing in Rome. For example, severe hunger in war-torn Gaza is affecting Lebanon and the Middle East, including reduced traffic on the Red Sea and Suez Canal, resulting in increased food prices.

FAO and WFP experts believe: conflict in sudan It will expand “causing mass displacement, possibly resulting in continued levels of famine and increasing numbers of people in catastrophic conditions.”

This will further aggravate the regional humanitarian crisis and lead to increased cross-border movements to neighboring countries, especially Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic.

UN agencies also highlighted ongoing work. Conflict in Palestinian territories It has led to “unprecedented needs with near-total population displacement and increased risk of regional spread.”

The Israeli parliament recently passed two laws that could prevent the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), a key agency providing aid to Gaza, from continuing its work.

According to Maxwell Sibhensana, deputy director of FAO’s emergencies and resilience office, restrictions on humanitarian workers in Gaza “make it difficult to get the necessary aid. And without that aid, the risk of famine remains very high.”

The escalation of the ongoing conflict in Lebanon has significantly increased the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance and has severely affected levels of acute food insecurity, the report said.

Extreme weather conditions and increasing climate variability are worsening food insecurity in many regions, the report said.

La Niña, a natural climate pattern influencing global weather marked by cooler ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, is expected to continue through March 2025, with a significant impact on precipitation patterns and temperatures.

“While La Niña may improve agricultural prospects in some regions, it also increases the risk of flooding in parts of Nigeria, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe,” the report said.

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Associated Press producer Paolo Santalucia contributed to this report from Rome and Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer from the United Nations.