Africa has become the continent with the largest number of people suffering from hunger for the first time, according to a new United Nations report that highlights the growing impact of conflict, climate shocks and economic hardship across the region.
The annual report on global food security, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and four other UN agencies, estimates that 309 million Africans—about 20 per cent of the continent’s population—experienced hunger in 2025.
That figure surpasses Asia, where an estimated 292 million people, or six per cent of the population, were affected.
According to the report, the global fight against hunger has made modest progress in recent years, with the number of undernourished people falling by 43 million, from 688 million in 2022 to 645 million in 2025. Despite the improvement, hunger levels remain higher than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The centre of gravity of hunger has shifted from Asia to Africa,” said David Laborde, Director of the FAO’s Agrifood Economics Division.
He noted that countries such as China have dramatically reduced hunger over the past two decades, while India continues to make significant efforts to tackle food insecurity. Africa, however, continues to struggle with rising levels of undernourishment.
The report shows that hunger has steadily increased across Africa since 2017, although preliminary estimates suggest conditions may have begun to improve slightly in 2025.
The affordability of healthy food has also worsened on the continent. Nearly two-thirds of Africans (66.6 per cent) cannot afford a healthy diet—more than twice the rate recorded in Asia.
The UN urged African governments to prioritise reforms in the livestock and animal-source food sector, which remains the region’s most expensive food category and a key barrier to improving nutrition.
The report also identified armed conflicts and climate-related disasters as major drivers of food insecurity. Ongoing crises in countries such as Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo have displaced millions of people, disrupted farming activities and cut off livelihoods.
The United Nations has already warned that 20 million people face acute food insecurity because of the conflict in Sudan, while escalating tensions in the Middle East could further worsen global food shortages by driving up energy and fertiliser costs.
Although the immediate impact of rising input costs has remained relatively limited, Laborde cautioned that the global food crisis is far from over and warned that continued instability could deepen hunger across vulnerable regions.
