- The World Food Programme estimates 45 million people could be pushed into severe food insecurity by June, all because the US and Israel continue their war against Iran.
- An additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 2.3 million in Afghanistan, and 1.3 million in Sri Lanka are now struggling to meet basic food needs.
- The Iran war is generating significant spillovers by driving up food and fuel costs and disrupting global trade.
- Even if the crisis de-escalates, economic impacts will intensify in coming months.
- In addition, the Trump administration slashed UN funding, leaving the organization dangerously exposed with $1.568 billion in outstanding dues.
- WFP has been forced to ration and limit aid due to drastic funding cuts, and years of exhausting resources in Gaza and Ukraine.
The spillover effect that mainstream media ignores
The Rome-based World Food Programme released a detailed assessment at the end of last week outlining how the Middle East crisis is actively generating what it calls “significant spillovers” that go far beyond the battlefield. These spillovers are driving up the cost of food and fuel while heavily disrupting global trade networks that feed the world’s most vulnerable populations. The correlation between energy prices and food prices is so tight in many places that when fuel costs rise, food costs follow immediately. For the poorest countries, where people are already spending every cent they have on food, this means they simply eat less. They skip meals. They watch their children go hungry. They suffer and die quietly, far from the cameras that cover missile strikes and military briefings.
Skau explained this brutal reality to a UN press briefing with brutal clarity. “We remain by that prognosis,” he said. “That’s mainly because the correlation between the prices of energy and food is so tight in many places, and also that in the poorest countries people are already spending all their money on food, and hence when food prices rise, they eat less.”
The WFP analysis of three highly vulnerable nations revealed that an additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 2.3 million in Afghanistan, and 1.3 million in Sri Lanka are currently struggling to meet their most basic daily nutritional needs. These are not mere statistics. These are human beings whose lives have been upended by a war they did not start and cannot stop. The carnage doesn't stop in the Middle East. American families, pinched in their budgets, are having trouble affording basic necessities, with rising gas and food prices due to the war.
The funding crisis that Washington created
Even before the Iran war began, near the beginning of the conflict, United Nations agencies themselves were feeling the crunch after a significant draw down in U.S. support and funding. The Trump administration slashed support over criticism that the UN has long failed to promote American interests. This decision, cloaked in rhetoric about accountability and financial reform, has had devastating consequences for the world’s hungriest people. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has been warning that outstanding dues reached a record $1.568 billion at the end of 2025 and that collections covered only 76.7% of assessed contributions, leaving the organization dangerously exposed.
The WFP has already been forced to strictly ration and limit aid to millions of impoverished people due to these drastic international funding cuts. The agency has issued an urgent plea to global donors to immediately step up financial contributions, with a specific focus on stabilizing Somalia and Afghanistan. The reason is simple and stark. “The human consequences of not doing more will be massive,” the agency warned.
This is the harsh truth living in a world where food has become a weapon of war, where the U.S. and Israel continue their military campaign against Iran while millions starve on the periphery, and where the very institutions designed to prevent famine are being starved of resources by the same nations that claim to champion humanitarian values.
The war has already turned food shortages into a catastrophe of global proportions. The UN report predicted that up to 181 million people in 41 countries could be hit by severe food shortages due to the conflict in Ukraine, as well as its impact on grain and fertilizer exports, but the Iran war is now compounding that crisis exponentially. The World Food Programme’s acting Executive Director Skau cited other global hot spots with food insecurity including Sudan, Gaza, southern Lebanon, Yemen and Haiti. The question is not whether millions will starve. The question is whether anyone in power will stop the war before the next 45 million are pushed over the edge.
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