NAIROBI, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Some 88.5 million people in East and Central Africa were highly food insecure and in urgent need of humanitarian assistance at the end of June 2025, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, said in a joint report released on Monday.
In their June food security and nutrition update, the FAO and IGAD noted that of these, 57.1 million people were in seven of the eight IGAD member states, namely Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda.
"Levels of acute food insecurity across the region remained concerning, with ongoing or approaching lean seasons compounding the effects of conflict, climatic shocks, and macroeconomic challenges in many countries," the agencies said.
The two organizations noted that countries in conflict and insecurity are the worst affected as the crises continue to disrupt livelihoods and undermine food security across the region.
These countries include Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the last three being the worst affected.
As of the end of June, FAO and IGAD said an estimated 23.8 million people had been forcibly displaced across the region, including 18 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 5.8 million refugees and asylum seekers.
They observed that conflict, insecurity, and climatic shocks remained the primary drivers of displacement in the region.
According to the institutions, Sudan accounted for over half of the region's total IDPs, at 10.1 million, 2.4 million displaced before the start of the ongoing conflict, and 7.7 million after.
FAO and IGAD also called for immediate, coordinated, and multi-sectoral life-saving assistance in areas facing or worse levels of acute food insecurity. ■