IGAD urges shift from crisis response to prevention as East Africa’s hunger crisis deepens

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 24 — East Africa must shift from responding to food crises after they erupt to anticipating and preventing them, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has said, as more than 40 million people across six member states face high levels of acute food insecurity.

IGAD said the scale and persistence of the crisis required governments and development partners to act on early warnings, invest in resilient food systems and strengthen regional markets before shocks turn into humanitarian emergencies.

“More than 40 million people across the IGAD region are facing high levels of acute food insecurity,” IGAD Deputy Executive Secretary Mohamed Abdi Ware said at the launch of the IGAD Regional Focus of the 2026 Global Report on Food Crises.

“Behind this figure are families struggling to put food on the table, farmers and pastoralists whose livelihoods have been disrupted, and children facing malnutrition.”

The report found that 40.3 million people, or 34 per cent of the analysed population, across Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda faced high levels of acute food insecurity in 2026.

The number has nearly tripled from 13.9 million in 2016, representing a 190% increase.

Ware said the figures should not be treated merely as a record of worsening conditions but as a trigger for a different approach to food security.

“The report we launch today therefore provides us with more than statistics – it is a call to action,” he said.

“The scale and persistence of food insecurity in our region demand that we move beyond responding to recurrent crises and strengthen our capacity to anticipate risks, prevent deterioration and strengthen resilience.”

IGAD identified five priorities: strengthening early warning and anticipatory action; investing in climate-resilient food systems and livelihoods; strengthening regional food markets and trade; addressing the interconnected drivers of conflict, displacement, climate vulnerability and food insecurity; and improving data, coordination and financing.

The regional body said early-warning information must translate into action before shocks become crises.

“Early warning consistently” needs to lead to “early action,” Ware said, pointing to a recent IGAD high-level forum on El Niño preparedness.

The report shows that the crisis is being driven by a combination of conflict, climate shocks, economic pressures and displacement.

Sudan remains the region’s largest food crisis, with 19.5 million people, or 41 per cent of its population, projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity between February and May 2026.

South Sudan has the highest prevalence, with 55 per cent of its population estimated to be facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity between April and July.

Somalia recorded 6.5 million people facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity between February and March, an increase of 1.9 million from its 2025 peak.

Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands are also experiencing a sharp deterioration. About 4.1 million people, including nearly 429,500 refugees, faced high levels of acute food insecurity between April and June, a 46 per cent increase, or nearly 1.3 million more people, than at the 2025 peak.

The report linked the deterioration in Kenya and Somalia primarily to worsening drought following poor October-December 2025 rains, which affected crop production, pasture and water availability.

At the same time, the region faces another climate risk.

IGAD said the forecast strengthening of El Niño and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole are expected to bring above-average rainfall to eastern parts of the region during the October-December 2026 season.

The rains could improve crop and livestock production, but excessive rainfall could also increase flooding risks in eastern and southern Ethiopia, eastern Kenya, central and southern Somalia and parts of Uganda.

Ware said IGAD would continue working with member states and partners to improve cross-border coordination because food crises do not stop at national boundaries.

“We must facilitate the movement of food, livestock and agricultural inputs across borders, strengthen market information systems and connect areas of surplus with areas of deficit,” he said.

The report also highlighted the human cost of the crisis, with more than nine million children aged six to 59 months across the six countries estimated to need treatment for acute malnutrition, including 2.3 million suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

An estimated 19 million people are living in forced displacement across the six countries, comprising nearly 14.5 million internally displaced people and 4.5 million refugees and asylum-seekers.

IGAD said conflict, drought and economic shocks were being compounded by cuts in humanitarian funding, increasing pressure on already stretched response systems.

Olivier Rousselle, head of the ECHO Regional Office for Eastern, Great Lakes and Southern Africa, said the crisis could not be addressed through food assistance alone.

“Food is not enough. It is necessary but not enough,” Rousselle said, calling for integrated support covering nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, food security and livelihoods.

He also stressed the importance of maintaining reliable data as resources become more constrained, saying effective programming depends on quality information.

IGAD said data gaps remained a significant challenge and called for stronger information systems to support timely, evidence-based decisions.

Ware said the region’s response should ultimately be measured by whether it can reduce vulnerability before shocks become full-blown crises.

“Our success should ultimately be measured not by how well we manage recurring crises, but by how effectively we reduce vulnerability and prevent them from becoming crises in the first place,” he said.