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Projected population in need in January 2025 across FEWS NET monitored countries:
125-135 million
11% of the population
Total humanitarian food assistance needs across FEWS NET-monitored countries in January 2025 are projected to be:
Higher than needs in January 2024
Higher than the five-year average
This brief summarizes FEWS NET’s projection of the population in need of urgent food assistance and the severity of anticipated acute food insecurity in FEWS NET-monitored countries seven months into the future. The projected size of each country’s population experiencing acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 and higher) is compared to last year and the recent five-year average, categorized as Higher, Similar, or Lower. Additional information is provided for countries with large food insecure populations, an expectation of high severity, or where other key issues warrant further context. Analytical confidence is lower in FEWS NET’s remotely monitored countries, indicated by “RM.” Visit www.fews.net for detailed country reports.
FEWS NET defines the total PIN of urgent humanitarian food assistance as the combined number of people facing Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse acute food insecurity outcomes, regardless of whether they are receiving assistance, plus any populations in lower IPC Phases who would likely be in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse in the absence of humanitarian food assistance. The IPC follows a different approach to estimate the PIN, which can be found here.
Key Messages
In January 2025, FEWS NET expects the number of people in need of humanitarian food assistance to be highest in the countries of Yemen, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and Ethiopia.
When food assistance needs are expressed as a percent of the total population of each respective FEWS NET monitored country, FEWS NET expects the share of the population that needs humanitarian food assistance to be highest in South Sudan and Yemen, where over 50 percent of each country’s population will most likely need food assistance, followed by Sudan and Zimbabwe, where over 25 percent of the country’s population will most likely need food assistance. In Afghanistan, Lebanon, Malawi, Somalia, and Haiti, the share of each country’s population that most likely needs food assistance ranges between 15 and 24 percent.
Out of the projected total 125-135 million people in need across FEWS NET-monitored countries, Yemen, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are each expected to contribute 10 percent or more of total food assistance needs. Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Afghanistan are each expected to contribute 5-9 percent of total food assistance needs.
In comparison to January 2024, FEWS NET expects the number of people in need of food assistance to be higher in Sudan, Nigeria, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Haiti, Chad, Angola, and Lesotho. In contrast, FEWS NET expects the number of people in need of food assistance to be lower in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Kenya, Burkina Faso, and Venezuela. In all other countries, food assistance needs are expected to be similar to last year.