By bringing together data from more than 300 analysts and dozens of trusted partners (including government-validated statistics, CPI Hunger Rating Index, agricultural and economic data), the map provides the most complete and up-to-date picture of the hunger facing the world’s most vulnerable.
“It allows you, journalists, but also the policy makers and students present here, to take the pulse of global food insecurity.“WFP Director of Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Jean Martin Bauer told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.
The launch of the platform comes at a critical time with limited funds for humanitarian action and the number of people facing the most severe form of hunger has increased 15-fold, from 85,000 in 2019 to 1.4 million in 2025, according to the internationally recognized hunger index, the CPI, which issues famine alerts.
Cost savings potential
Through predictive models, the map answers three critical questions: What is the current state of food security around the world? Which countries and regions require urgent attention? And what are the underlying factors that contribute to food security needs?
Studies have shown that early warning of emerging food safety issues can generate enormous cost savings and operational efficiencies. For every dollar invested in WFP’s early action programs, a minimum saving of seven dollars is achieved.
“Without data, the fight against hunger is fought in the dark,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain, “this platform changes that…We are able to track and predict where, how and why hunger is increasing, which means we not only respond to hunger, we get ahead of it..”
AI-assisted forecasting
The map offers AI-assisted forecasting capabilities for projected food needs in WFP-designated hunger hotspots, 16 countries with populations already struggling with catastrophic hunger.
Another novel feature is the inclusion of “adequacy of micronutrient intake,” which links food security conditions with the nutritional quality of diets.
This nutritional analysis, developed with support from the Gates Foundation, helps identify populations at risk of hidden hunger caused by inadequate intake of essential vitamins and minerals.
Stop hunger in its tracks
Funding for global food security monitoring and analysis has seen an alarming decline and WFP’s data footprint shrank by 25 percent last year.
“You can’t stop hunger if you can’t see it coming”added Mr. Bauer.
“That is why it is crucial that we continue to fund the collection of this data, so that society has a reliable, evidence-based early warning system that can alert the world to emerging and alarming conditions, and the risk of human suffering, before it is too late.”