WFP warns Myanmar hunger crisis set to worsen in 2026

Myanmar is heading towards one of its bleakest humanitarian years yet, the World Food Programme has warned, with more than 12 million people expected to face acute hunger in 2026. The agency says at least one million of them could slip into emergency levels of deprivation without urgent international support.

In a stark statement issued on 11 December, the WFP said escalating conflict and a surge in displacement were pushing an already fragile situation “to breaking point”. Many families, it noted, are surviving on little more than plain rice or thin porridge, with more than 400,000 young children and mothers suffering acute malnutrition.

Michael Dunford, the WFP’s Country Director in Myanmar, said the crisis was both severe and largely overlooked. “Conflict and deprivation are converging to strip away people’s basic means of survival, yet the world isn’t paying attention,” he warned, calling it one of the worst and least‑funded hunger emergencies globally.

The UN’s humanitarian office expects internal displacement to rise from 3.6 million to 4 million next year as fighting intensifies across the country. That increase, the WFP says, risks tipping millions of already struggling households into extreme hardship.

Despite operating under what Dunford described as “extremely challenging conditions”, the agency remains heavily underfunded. It plans to assist 1.3 million people in 2026 — only a fraction of those in need — and is seeking a budget of US$125 million to sustain its operations.

The WFP is urging the international community to step in with both financial backing and diplomatic pressure to prevent the crisis from deepening further. Without it, the agency warns, Myanmar’s hunger emergency could become even more devastating in the year ahead.

-2025-12-16