FAO Launches First-Ever $2.5bn Global Emergency Appeal, West and Central Africa Emerge Top Priority as Nigeria Set to Gain Most By Raymond Enoch
In an unprecedented shift in international food security strategy, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has rolled out its first-ever Global Emergency and Resilience Appeal, seeking USD 2.5 billion to support more than 100 million people in 54 countries and territories in 2026. The initiative, launched on the sidelines of the 179th FAO Council, places emergency agricultural interventions at the forefront of global humanitarian action and signals a decisive response to rising levels of acute hunger.
At the core of the FAO’s unprecedented call is a focus on keeping farmers producing, stabilizing communities, and shifting away from perpetual crisis response. FAO Director-General QU Dongyu argued that global humanitarian models must evolve. “Acute food insecurity has tripled since 2016, even with high levels of humanitarian funding. The current model simply does not keep pace with today’s realities,” he said. “Supporting farmers to maintain production is critical to ensure food availability. When farmers can keep producing, communities stabilize and the path to resilience becomes real.”
What makes the Appeal historic is that it consolidates humanitarian and resilience needs into one integrated platform. FAO is effectively saying humanitarian aid will no longer be enough unless it is linked with long-term agricultural recovery. The organization’s approach is grounded in evidence, young people’s demands for opportunity rather than handouts, and a field-based understanding of where food systems are collapsing fastest.
The 2026 Appeal seeks USD 1.5 billion to provide immediate agricultural support for 60 million people, USD 1 billion to strengthen resilience in agrifood systems for 43 million people, and USD 70 million to support global coordination, data systems, anticipatory action, and monitoring. Economists working with FAO say early agricultural action produces compelling returns: every dollar invested now could prevent as much as seven dollars in future humanitarian losses.
West and Central Africa received the single largest allocation under the Appeal, with USD 593.4 million intended to reach 17.7 million people in 17 countries. Nigeria is expected to be the lead beneficiary in the region, reflecting both the scale of its population and the urgency of its food security challenges. FAO analysts note that the region’s structural vulnerabilities — climate shocks, conflict, inflation, market disruptions and large rural populations dependent on farming and herding — make agricultural investment not only strategic but essential.
Across Africa and other crisis-affected regions, more than 80 percent of food-insecure people live in rural areas, yet only 5 percent of humanitarian food-sector funding goes directly to agricultural livelihoods. This imbalance, FAO says, perpetuates a cycle in which families receive food assistance but cannot rebuild their ability to produce food locally. With its new appeal, the organization is pushing to reverse that trend by prioritizing seeds, tools, livestock vaccination, irrigation systems, market access, and cash assistance to farm households.
The Appeal also aligns with the upcoming 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview, signaling that FAO’s approach will mesh with broader UN planning rather than operate alongside it. Anticipatory action — preparing and protecting farms before disaster strikes — is another pillar of the model. Projects proven to work in conflict zones, climate-stressed communities and post-disaster regions will be expanded through targeted investments.
This is FAO’s clearest message so far: the world cannot afford to keep spending billions on food crises that never end. Donors are being urged to shift from repetitive emergency relief toward cost-effective agricultural resilience. Behind the numbers are families seeking stability, dignity and a real chance to rebuild their lives.
