October 13, 2025
More than half of Haiti’s population now faces acute hunger as violence and instability block aid, cripple farming, and drive prices to historic highs.
Haiti is in the midst of a worsening humanitarian disaster, with more than half of its 11 million citizens struggling to find enough to eat as armed groups tighten their control and the nation’s economy continues to collapse.
According to a report published Oct. 11 by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), approximately 5.7 million Haitians are enduring severe food insecurity. Of that number, nearly 1.9 million are in “emergency” conditions — facing extreme shortages and malnutrition — while another 3.8 million are one step behind, classified at crisis levels.
The IPC projects that the situation could deteriorate further by mid-2026, with nearly six million people expected to experience acute hunger as Haiti enters its lean agricultural season.
In response, Haiti’s transitional government announced the creation of a new Food and Nutrition Security Office to coordinate humanitarian aid efforts. Louis Gerald Gilles, a member of the presidential council, said that officials are “mobilizing resources to reach those most affected as quickly as possible.”
Still, relief efforts face overwhelming barriers. Armed groups now control about 90 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and have begun extending their reach into rural regions vital to food production. Over 1.3 million people have been displaced by violence, a 24 percent increase since December, with many living in overcrowded shelters without access to food or sanitation.
Farmers who remain on their land must often pay gangs in crops or cash for the right to work, while road blockades prevent food from reaching major markets. The broader economy has been decimated — Haiti has suffered six straight years of recession, and food prices rose 33 percent last July compared with the year before.
The crisis is hitting children the hardest. Around 680,000 have been displaced by violence, and more than 1,000 schools have closed. Armed groups have even recruited some children.
The United Nations recently approved a 5,550-member international force to restore order, though instability persists.
“Progress remains fragile without long-term investment to tackle the root causes,” said Martine Villeneuve, Haiti director at Action Against Hunger.
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