Global report on food crises - 2021

The 2021 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC 2021) highlights the remarkably high severity and numbers of people in Crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or equivalent in 55 countries/territories, driven by persistent conflict, pre-existing and COVID-19-related economic shocks, and weather extremes. The GRFC 2021 provides an overview of food crises in 2020 using acute food insecurity estimates for populations in countries/territories where data are based on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and Cadre Harmonisé (CH) or comparable sources. It focuses on crises where the local capacities to respond are insufficient, prompting a request for the urgent mobilization of the international community, as well as countries/territories where there is ample evidence that the magnitude and severity of the food crisis exceed the local resources and capacities needed to respond effectively.

The GRFC 2021 estimates that at least 15.7 million people in 15 countries were food insecure due to weather extremes. Overall, 155 million people were acutely food insecure and in need of urgent assistance (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or equivalent in 2020 in 55 countries/territories that asked for external assistance – the highest level in five years of GRFC reporting. It represents an increase of nearly 20 million people since 2019, when almost 135 million people were in Crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or equivalent, in 55 countries/territories. Around 21 percent of the analysed population was in Crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or equivalent in 2020, up from 16.5 percent in 2019.