In 36 nations, about 40 million individuals faced critical or worse (IPC/CH Phase 4 or higher) symptoms in 2021. Over half a million people in four nations, Ethiopia, South Sudan, southern Madagascar, and Yemen, are facing catastrophe — famine and death. The figure is four times greater than that of 2020 and seven times greater than that of 2016. Conflict/insecurity was the predominant cause of acute food insecurity in seven of these cases.
While various, interconnected, and sometimes mutually reinforcing variables continue to drive the food crises highlighted in the GRFC, conflict/insecurity remains the primary driver. In 2021, 139 million people lived in 24 countries/territories where war was the principal driver of crisis (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or comparable. This is up from 99 million people in 23 conflict-affected countries facing catastrophe or worse in 2020.
Droughts, rainfall shortages, floods, and cyclones have been particularly damaging in important crises in East, Central, and Southern Africa, as well as Eurasia. Since 2020, when this was identified as the major driver affecting 15.7 million people in 15 countries, the effect of weather-related catastrophes on food insecurity has increased.