WFP: 45 Million More People Face Acute Hunger Because of Iran War

The World Food Programme reported on Tuesday that 45 million additional people have been pushed into acute food insecurity since the Iran war began on March 12 — raising the global total from 273 million to 318 million, the highest figure the agency has ever recorded.

"This is not a slow-onset crisis. This is three weeks," WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in a statement. "Forty-five million people crossed from coping to crisis in twenty-one days."

How War Becomes Hunger

The mechanism is direct. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world's oil passes, has been effectively closed to commercial tanker traffic since March 15. Oil prices have driven up the cost of everything that moves.

WFP's own logistics costs rose 18% in March, according to the agency's supply chain division. Fuel for the trucks, ships, and aircraft that deliver food aid now consumes a larger share of the budget, meaning fewer tonnes reach fewer people with the same funding.

"We have food sitting in warehouses in Djibouti, in Mombasa, in Karachi," said WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri at a Geneva briefing. "We cannot afford to move it."

Fertilizer markets have compounded the damage. Urea, the most widely used nitrogen fertilizer, hit $800 per tonne on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday — double its price four weeks ago. Roughly 30% of global urea trade transits the Persian Gulf, according to the International Fertilizer Association.

The timing is critical. April is the spring planting window across South Asia, the Sahel, and East Africa. Farmers who cannot access or afford fertilizer now will harvest less in August and September.

Where It Hits Hardest

The WFP breakdown identifies the sharpest deterioration in countries that were already fragile.

Yemen, where 17.4 million people required food assistance before the war, has seen shipments through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden slow to a fraction of normal volume. The Houthi movement's signals that it will resume attacks on commercial shipping in the Bab al-Mandab strait threaten a second maritime chokepoint.

Sudan, already the world's largest displacement crisis with 12.5 million people forced from their homes, has lost 60% of its emergency kitchen capacity. USAID — the largest funder of Sudan's food response — has been in organisational turmoil since February, with disbursement delays leaving partner organisations unable to restock.

Afghanistan, where the Taliban government's restrictions on female aid workers already limit distribution, now faces diesel prices 40% above February levels, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In West Africa's Sahel region, 53 million people face acute food insecurity heading into the June lean season, according to the Cadre Harmonisé assessment released last week. Conflict, climate shocks, and now oil-driven input cost inflation have converged.

Fertilizer's Planting-Season Deadline

Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara International, told the Financial Times that the planting window in tropical and subtropical regions "is not negotiable with markets."

"If a farmer in Bihar or Burkina Faso does not have urea by mid-April, that crop is gone. Not reduced — gone," Holsether said.

India, the world's largest urea importer, announced emergency subsidies on Monday to cap domestic fertilizer prices. But the subsidy only applies to domestically produced urea. Imported product, which supplies roughly 30% of India's needs, remains at market rates.

Bangladesh, which imports nearly all its urea, has made no comparable announcement. The country's agriculture ministry told Reuters it was "in discussions with Gulf suppliers" but had not secured alternative sourcing.

Funding Gap

The WFP's 2026 appeal stood at $16.2 billion before the Iran war. McCain said Tuesday that the agency would need an additional $4 billion to cover the expanded caseload through June alone.

Donor governments have not responded with new pledges. The European Commission said it was "assessing the updated needs." The US State Department referred questions to USAID, which did not reply to a request for comment.

The next WFP Executive Board meeting is scheduled for April 14 in Rome, where McCain is expected to present a revised appeal. The fertilizer planting window across most affected regions closes within days of that meeting.