At a moment when more people face acute hunger than at any point in recent memory, the international body charged with preventing famine finds itself starved of the very resources it needs to act. The United States' withdrawal from global humanitarian funding has left the Food and Agriculture Organization navigating a paradox familiar to human history: the institutions built to hold back catastrophe are weakened precisely when catastrophe draws nearest. Phil Hogan, seeking to lead the FAO, is traveling through Asia this week to name this contradiction plainly and propose a leaner, more urgent
UN food agency faces funding crisis as U.S. cuts aid, threatening global food security
Over 266 million people face acute hunger in 2026, with more than a quarter of the world's population experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity, risking increased sociopolitical unrest.