The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced that United Nations agencies, at the Davos meeting in Switzerland, warned that rising hunger and displacement are not only humanitarian crises but also growing threats to global economic stability.
In a statement, the WFP said that currently 318 million people worldwide are facing acute hunger or worse. The statement warned that severe funding shortages have limited the organization’s ability to deliver assistance at a time when needs are rapidly increasing.
The WFP emphasized that, based on current estimates, less than half of the organization’s requested $13 billion budget will be funded—meaning it will be able to assist only about 110 million people.
Quoting Rania Dagash-Kamara, Deputy Executive Director of the WFP, the statement said:
“Hunger fuels displacement, conflict, and instability—phenomena that not only threaten human lives but also disrupt the very markets that businesses depend on.”
She added that the world cannot build stable markets on the existence of 318 million hungry people.
Ms. Dagash-Kamara, who is attending the Davos meeting in Switzerland, said that the private sector has a direct stake in addressing food insecurity and called on companies to invest in supply chains, technology, and innovation.
The World Food Programme has urged leaders and investors at Davos to keep hunger and food security among their top priorities.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has also called on political and economic leaders at Davos to reconsider migration—not as a burden or pressure, but as a driver of economic growth.
Amy Pope, Director General of the IOM, said:
“Migration, if responsibly managed, is one of the most powerful drivers of development.”
