The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched its first-ever Global Emergency and Resilience Appeal, calling for a unified and urgent response to rising levels of acute food insecurity amid tightening humanitarian resources. With a target of $2.5 billion, the Appeal aims to support over 100 million people across 54 countries and territories in 2026, placing emergency agricultural assistance at the heart of efforts to protect food production and build resilience in crisis-affected communities.
By consolidating all humanitarian and resilience needs into a single framework, FAO seeks to address urgent crises while reducing the cycle of repeated, costly aid in the future. The initiative reflects FAO’s commitment to delivering solutions that are not only practical and cost-efficient but also driven by the demands of the communities themselves.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 179th FAO Council, Director-General QU Dongyu highlighted the urgency of redesigning food crisis responses to maximize impact. He noted that acute food insecurity has tripled since 2016, even with high levels of humanitarian funding, emphasizing that supporting farmers to maintain production is critical to ensuring food availability and stabilizing communities. Drawing on insights from the World Food Forum, he also underscored the importance of opportunity over handouts, stressing that the Appeal is reality-driven, member-driven, and solutions-focused.
FAO’s 2026 Appeal acknowledges that today’s protracted crises cannot be resolved through short-term aid alone. Although 90 percent of humanitarian resources are spent on long-running emergencies, hunger continues to rise. Approximately 80 percent of those facing acute food insecurity live in rural areas, dependent on farming, herding, fishing, or forestry. Yet only five percent of humanitarian food-sector funding supports agricultural livelihoods, leaving families trapped in cycles of crisis and dependence. By strengthening local food production, FAO seeks to improve food availability, support markets, create jobs, and stabilize communities in countries such as Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Appeal emphasizes anticipatory action and rapid emergency agricultural support, including seed distributions, livestock vaccination campaigns, infrastructure rehabilitation, tool provision, cash assistance, and market-oriented programs. These interventions have proven cost-effective, particularly in conflict- and climate-affected contexts, delivering benefit–cost ratios of up to 7:1. Aligning with the forthcoming 2026 UN Global Humanitarian Overview, the Appeal integrates FAO’s agricultural expertise into broader inter-agency planning.
In concrete terms, the Appeal seeks $1.5 billion for life-saving emergency interventions reaching 60 million people, $1 billion for resilience programs benefiting 43 million people with climate-smart, market-driven agrifood solutions, and $70 million for global services such as threat monitoring, anticipatory action, and coordination across humanitarian, development, and peace initiatives. Funding is allocated regionally to respond to specific crises, with major investments in Asia and the Pacific, the Near East and North Africa, Eastern Africa, West and Central Africa, Southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe.
FAO underscores that this Global Appeal represents a commitment to protecting food production and reducing future humanitarian needs through evidence-based, cost-effective solutions. “This Global Appeal reflects the new, faster, leaner, and more effective FAO,” stated the Director-General, urging donors, governments, and partners to invest in measures that help families withstand shocks, restore livelihoods, and secure a pathway out of crisis.
