Climate Change

Climatic change, including declining precipitation, droughts, and rising temperatures, threatens agricultural production and productivity and food security of smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa. The rainfed agriculture that smallholders rely on is inherently exposed to climate variability and change. Smallholders with low access to climate-smart agricultural technologies and limited alternative livelihood strategies are most vulnerable to climate shocks.

Extreme weather events, including prolonged flooding and dry spells, continue to drive up acute food insecurity throughout mainland Tanzania, according to a new IPC analysis. An estimated 10 percent of the analyzed population will continue to face IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) food insecurity or above through May 2026, with as many as 1 million people in Phase 3 and unable to meet their daily food needs. Consistent climate shocks coupled with ongoing market instability have significantly reduced households’ purchasing power, particularly in rural areas.

Over the past 10 years, food and nutrition crises have shifted from one-off emergencies to protracted conditions in many regions around the world, according to the 2026 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) released today. Since 2016, the global share of people facing acute food insecurity has nearly doubled. In 2025, 266 million people across 47 countries/territories experienced acute food insecurity; what’s more, 33 of those countries have appeared in every GRFC edition released since the report’s inception in 2016.

Acute food insecurity continues to rise in Somalia, according to a new IPC alert. From early 2025 to February 2026, the number of people in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) or above food insecurity has nearly doubled, with as many as 6.5 million people now classified as acutely food insecure. Worsening drought, combined with conflict and rising food prices, is largely to blame for the severity of the country’s food and nutrition security crisis.

We often talk about war and weather as separate disasters. But for a farmer, they are a combined force. New research shows that conflict doesn't just disrupt a single harvest; it destroys the economic systems and the very soil that families need to survive an unpredictable climate.