The ongoing US-Israel war on Iran has compounded other global disasters to drive record numbers of people into hunger at a time when funding to combat famine has fallen dramatically, the head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has said.
Historic Levels of Hunger
The WFP reports that 363 million people worldwide are now at risk of acute hunger, with 45 million of them due to conflict in the Middle East and the resulting oil price spike. This surge in need comes as funding dropped by a third last year, with the US, the largest donor, cutting its contribution by more than half.
Carl Skau, the WFP’s acting executive director, stated that the gap between needs and funding forced the organization to cut programmes supporting populations in food emergencies to focus on those facing catastrophic famine. “We take from the hungry to give to the starving. That’s the reality,” Skau told the Guardian. “Much of this is driven by conflict. Last year, we had two famines declared. That hasn’t happened in decades, so these are historic levels of hunger.”
Impact of the Iran War
The two famines declared in 2025 were in Gaza and Sudan. The situation in Gaza has improved slightly since the October ceasefire, while Sudan remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Skau noted a nearly 40% year-on-year drop in funding, which immediately affected staffing, particularly in Afghanistan and Yemen, where the Trump administration cut off emergency food funding. “We had to let go of 5,000 people in Afghanistan. It meant we went from supporting 10 million to 2 million,” he said.
More than 300 million people were already facing acute hunger before the US and Israel started a war with Iran in February, leading to Tehran closing the Strait of Hormuz and a US counterblockade on Iranian shipping. The WFP estimated that if oil prices remained above $100, 45 million more would face acute food shortages. Brent crude fell below that in mid-May but remains 30% above its prewar average.
Ripple Effects on Food and Aid
The war and Hormuz closure have driven up food prices, mostly due to transport costs. “The price of food and energy is so closely correlated that in some places if the price of energy goes up 30%, food inflation almost meets that,” Skau said. “In a least developed country, amongst the most vulnerable, they’re already spending all their money on food, and so that means they eat 30% or 40% less.”
The oil price spike also affects WFP operations. Border tensions with the Taliban led Pakistan to close crossings, blocking food aid routes. The Gulf conflict then closed the border with Iran, forcing the WFP to use long, costly land routes. Skau said 85,000 tons of food aid for Afghanistan was stuck on the Pakistan border for months, then rerouted via Dubai, only to be stuck there when the Iran war broke out. It was sent through Turkey, the Caspian Sea, and Turkmenistan, arriving seven months late.
Funding Crisis and Future Risks
Donor contributions dropped from $9.8 billion in 2024 to $6.5 billion in 2025, with US funding falling from $4.4 billion to $2.1 billion and UK contributions from $610 million to $435 million. This year, estimated needs are $13 billion, but only $2.8 billion has been received. The war also threatens next year’s harvest by cutting the supply chain for a third of the world’s seaborne fertiliser. “In east Africa, all their fertiliser comes from the Middle East, and they don’t have the capacity nor the resources to buy elsewhere,” Skau said. “So that means that if this continues, there is going to be none, and eastern Africa is now heading into the planting season, so we will see the impact on productivity six or nine months from now.”
Danger for Humanitarian Workers
Skau also highlighted the corrosion of international norms, making humanitarian work more dangerous. Over 1,000 humanitarian workers have been killed in the past three years. Iranian-backed Houthi forces are still holding 38 WFP workers detained last year on unsubstantiated espionage allegations, leading the organization to suspend operations in Houthi-controlled areas. “We really feel this broader sense of a challenge to the rule of law,” Skau said. “We feel it at the checkpoints, and the drone wars have been terrible. We’re losing more colleagues than ever, and it’s very difficult with attribution – we can’t point to exactly who did what – and certainly there is no accountability. It’s never been more dangerous.”
