Haitians face record hunger as gang violence grips country in throes of economic crisis

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - More than half of Haiti's population is expected to experience severe hunger through June, and another 8,400 people living in makeshift shelters are projected to starve, according to a new report released this week.

Relentless gang violence and an ongoing economic collapse is to blame, according to an analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a multi-partner U.N. initiative that analyzes food insecurity and malnutrition around the world.

It noted that the number of those facing severe hunger increased by more than 300,000 people to some 5.7 million since last year.

Among those going hungry is Jackie Jean-Jacques, his wife and their three sons, who lost their home to gang violence and have lived in a crowded makeshift shelter for more than a year.

"There are days where the kids have to live on sugar water and bread," he said. "It hurts me to see that."

Jean-Jacques, 52, used to work as a bus driver but could no longer afford to rent the bus or buy gasoline. Besides, he worries that one day gangs would open fire on his public transportation vehicle like they have on others.

Meanwhile, his wife sells small items like plastic cups and lunch boxes on the street.

"This is not enough to feed us," he said.

While food and potable water were commonly distributed at shelters, aid began to dwindle after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump in late February decided to terminate 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts.

"Since March 2025, funding has no longer been guaranteed," according to the report issued Monday.

It said that from August 2024 to February 2025, nearly 977,000 Haitians received humanitarian food aid monthly, although rations have been reduced by up to half.

"The assistance you get is not enough," Jean-Jacques said.

UNICEF said Thursday that an estimated 2.85 million children - one quarter of Haiti's entire child population - "are facing consistently high levels of food insecurity."

The agency warned that it faces a 70% funding shortfall. It said it has helped more than 4,600 children this year with severe acute malnutrition, which represents only 4% of the estimated 129,000 children expected to need life-saving treatment this year.

Meanwhile, the U.N.'s World Food Program said it urgently needs $53.7 million to "continue its life-saving operations in Haiti over the next six months.”

"Right now, we're fighting to just hold the line on hunger," Wanja Kaaria, WFP's country director in Haiti, said in a statement Thursday.

In 2014, only 2% of Haiti's population was food insecure, with gang violence largely under control and most people enjoying the successful spring harvests from the previous year, according to a previous report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.

Hunger at that time affected mostly those in poor rural areas.

But in 2016, Hurricane Matthew battered Haiti as a Category 4 storm, destroying crops and livelihoods.

By 2018, more than 386,000 Haitians were experiencing severe hunger, a number that has since grown to an estimated 5.7 million.

"This is very alarming," said Martin Dickler, Haiti director for the nonprofit CARE. "It really is an extremely serious food crisis, and Haiti is one of the worst in the world."

The growing hunger coincides with a surge in the price of goods, with inflation reaching more than 30% in recent months.

Experts also blame gang violence, with gunmen controlling the main roads leading in and out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, disrupting the transportation of goods from the countryside.

Jean Rose-Bertha, a single, 40-year-old mother of two boys, said they have lived almost a year at a makeshift shelter after gangs chased them from their home.

"I can barely feed them. I sometimes do things I'm not supposed to do," she said, explaining that she prostitutes herself on occasion.

Dickler said women and girls have been disproportionately affected by the crisis, facing greater obstacles in accessing both food and livelihoods..

"They are left to manage the daily family survival," he said. "In food crises, women often eat least and last."