WFP acting director outlines how wars, climate shocks and funding gaps are driving global hunger

# What the WFP acting director said

Carl Skau, the World Food Programme's acting executive director, spoke to PBS about the widening gap between humanitarian needs and available resources. He framed the problem as a mix of conflict, trade disruptions and climate shocks that are raising hunger levels while aid funding declines.

# The scale: numbers you should know

WFP is providing assistance to more than 100 million people across 83 countries. Globally, some 266 million people face acute food insecurity because of conflict, extreme weather and economic strain. Despite that scale, WFP has about half the money it requested for operations.

# Sudan: an acute example

Sudan is one of the most severe crises cited. Nearly 20 million people there face acute hunger, and parts of the country experienced confirmed famine last year. Skau described visits to front-line locations including El Obeid, El Fasher and large displacement camps. He reported destroyed cities, populations displaced by ongoing fighting and almost 960,000 people living in crowded camps with few basic services, limited health care, no education and inadequate water and sanitation.

WFP's account links the on-the-ground violence—including operations by militias such as the Rapid Support Forces—to mass displacement and collapsed markets. Skau also pointed to disruptions in maritime trade as contributing to higher local prices and constrained supplies in Sudan's markets.

# How regional conflict and trade disruptions matter

Skau connected local hunger crises to wider regional disruptions: escalation of fighting around the Red Sea and related maritime insecurity is complicating shipments into Red Sea ports. That, plus broader conflict, is making food and input imports harder and more expensive for affected countries.

# Funding shortfalls and where they bite hardest

# Operational consequences

# What to watch next

• Violence and shifts in access in Sudan and other conflict zones that determine whether aid can reach displaced populations.
• Maritime security in the Red Sea region, which affects imports for coastal countries.
• Climate-driven shocks, including El Niño-related rains, that can worsen harvest prospects and create new acute food needs.

# Bottom line

WFP is operating at an unprecedented scale while its budget has been sharply reduced. Conflict-driven displacement, trade disruptions and climate shocks are combining to increase need in countries such as Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan. Those dynamics are outpacing the funding and operational access the agency currently has.