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STORY: WFP / HAITI HUNGER AND STABILITY
TRT: 01:59
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: SEE THE SHOT LIST
13 APRIL 2026, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
1. Various shots, Port-au-Prince
Hunger is entrenched in Haiti after years of steady deterioration: The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) data shows 5.8 million people – more than half the population - continue to experience acute levels of food insecurity. Food assistance has helped keep the most severe hunger at bay, but the overall number of people going hungry has remained stubbornly high.
15 APRIL 2026, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
2. Various shots, fuel prices in the Haitian capital
Disruptions to global oil supplies, linked to conflict in the Middle East, have driven up fuel prices in Haiti, forcing the government to raise the cost of gasoline by 29 percent and diesel by 37 percent in early April. The increases quickly translating into rising food prices and living expenses, pushing food out of reach for already struggling families – putting any hard-won gains in food security at-risk.
14 APRIL 2026, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
3. Various shots, WFP food distribution
Tackling hunger is vital to restore stability in Haiti where violence has displaced 1.4 million people, cutting families off from work, markets and food. WFP provides emergency food assistance to vulnerable families in Haiti to help them meet their food needs.
4. SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Ysmael, Port-au-Prince resident :
“I’m already feeling the effects of the fuel price hike. Everything has gone up. Tap-tap fares have already gone up, as have the prices of basic necessities. You can have money in hand and still not be able to put food on the table.”
5. Various shots, WFP food distribution
Tackling hunger is vital to restore stability in Haiti where violence has displaced 1.4 million people, cutting families off from work, markets and food. Armed groups exploit this crisis—luring children with food and preying on women and young mothers struggling to feed their families. Food assistance lessens vulnerability to recruitment and abuse.
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Tanya Birkbeck, WFP Spokesperson:
“It's absolutely essential to restore security in Haiti, but at the same time, we need to apply the same level of resources and attention to restoring food security. It's very difficult to imagine how can we rebuild peace when half of all Haitians don't have enough to eat, when mothers are waking up in the morning and they don't have food to give to their children.”
7. Various shots, WFP food distribution
09 APRIL 2026, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
8. Various shots, women with their crops in Cite Soleil
While emergency food assistance is a necessary in Haiti, WFP is also urging partners to fund critical activities that build long-term food security and resilience to climate or economic shocks. Supporting local production can have a stabilizing effect, even in hard-to-reach areas. In Cite Soleil – a neighborhood in the heart of the capital which is controlled by armed groups - WFP has worked with residents to restore water infrastructure in urban farmland zones, enabling them to support their families by growing their own food.
With new data showing more than half of all Haitians continue to face acute food insecurity, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is urgently calling for support to protect recent fragile gains in the fight against hunger and to foster stability in the struggling Caribbean nation.
An updated analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reveals 5.8 million Haitians —roughly 52 percent of the population— are facing crisis levels or worse of food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above). Of those, more than 1.8 million are enduring emergency food insecurity levels (IPC Phase 4) for the period of March to June 2026, meaning they are exhausting their last assets and unable to meet even basic food needs.
In 2025, despite a complex operating environment, WFP worked with the government and partners to assist 2.7 million people in Haiti through emergency food assistance, school meals, social protection programmes, and assistance to smallholder farmers, which has contributed to a slight improvement in food security compared to earlier projections for the same period. However, WFP warns this modest hard-won progress could quickly be reversed. Rising fuel prices, driven by the conflict in the Middle East, are increasing transportation and food costs.
“These small improvements to food security numbers must not lead to complacency,” warned Wanja Kaaria, WFP Haiti Country Director. “Elevated fuel prices and the resulting rise in food costs risk rolling back these gains, pushing already vulnerable families deeper into crisis and further destabilising the situation.”
Amid national and international efforts to restore public security in the Caribbean nation, WFP is calling for equally robust measures and funding to provide emergency relief and invest in long-term solutions to address the food insecurity that affects more than one in two Haitians.
“Tackling hunger is vital to restoring stability in Haiti. We cannot build peace when families have nothing to feed their children. Hunger opens the door to armed groups who will exploit the crisis, luring children with food and preying on women and young mothers who are struggling to provide for their families. Food assistance is the first line of defense in empowering vulnerable populations and rebuilding local food systems that can foster hope for the future,” said Kaaria.
For almost a decade, Haiti has experienced an ever-deepening food security crisis. This has been driven by violence related to armed groups, political upheaval, economic crisis and high levels of vulnerability to extreme weather, as seen with Hurricane Melissa which struck the south in late 2025. Conflict has displaced more than 1.4 million in Haiti, resulting in roughly 300,000 people living in overcrowded and unhygienic temporary shelters in the capital.
WFP requires USD 332 million dollars to maintain its crucial operations over the next 12 months and if enough funding is secured, plans to reach more than 2.7 million people with critical emergency and resilience building support.
