In its recent analysis, the IPC, a UN-backed index measuring hunger and malnutrition in the world’s hotspots, found that 5.7 million Haitians face a deteriorating food security situation.
The study provides analysis for the period September 2025 to February 2026 and a projection for March to June next year.
Emergency levels
A staggering 1.9 million – or 17 percent of the population – are suffering emergency levels of acute food insecurity, leaving them with food deficits, high acute malnutrition and excessive mortality rates.
An additional 3.8 million people – or 34 percent of the population – face crisis levels of acute food insecurity, meaning they could be forced to deplete their essential livelihoods simply to meet their basic nutritional needs.
Conditions expected to deteriorate
The IPC expects food security to deteriorate further from March to June 2026 due to the lean season, a period between harvests when food supplies tend to be low and prices high.
More than half the population – 54 percent – is expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity.
The situation is made worse by the creeping control of territory by armed groups and the decline of the country’s economy, which has led to mass displacement and the destruction of livelihoods.
In regions controlled by armed groups, farmers who have managed to maintain their agricultural activity are forced not only to negotiate access to plots but also to share their production, explains the IPC.
Additionally, households in gang-occupied areas that relied on small businesses were forced to abandon their sources of income and many people lost their jobs as businesses closed.
Emergency response required
Despite support from humanitarian actors, Haitians face overcrowding, characterized by precarious living conditions and a lack of sanitation facilities, according to the IPC.
This increases the risk of sexual violence, the spread of diseases such as cholera and the psychological distress of displaced people, who already lack adequate access to clean water, food and proper health care.
To mitigate the crisis, the IPC recommends emergency intervention to prevent poorer households from resorting to harmful coping strategies and an expansion of already existing social protection programs, among other actions.
Originally published in The European Times.
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