Malawi at risk of biased hunger data amidst 30% drop in global survey interviews

Malawi has experienced a 17 percent decline in population coverage for acute food insecurity analyses between 2025 and 2026, according to the 2026 Global Report on Food Crises, released on Friday by an alliance of UN agencies.

This reduction limits comparability and increases the risk of biasing hunger trends, reflecting a broader contraction in humanitarian financing.

The report indicates that the decline in funding has severely restricted resources for assessments. Consequently, the 2026 GRFC features the lowest number of countries and territories with data meeting technical requirements in ten years.

These financial constraints have led to a reduced frequency of data collection, lower population coverage, and less disaggregation for displaced populations globally.Principal data providers have significantly scaled back operations.

The World Food Programme (WFP) conducted 800,000 survey interviews in 2025, a 30 percent decrease from 1.1 million the previous year, with a further reduction expected for 2026.

Similarly, the FAO Data in Emergencies initiative reduced its household survey interviews by approximately 31 percent, falling from 170,000 in 2024 to 118,000 in 2025.

The impact of these constraints is evident across several regions. Zambia experienced a 40 percent drop in population coverage between 2025 and 2026, while Guinea and Nigeria saw declines of 14 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Furthermore, the frequency of analyses in the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau has shifted from biannual to annual.

In 2025, 18 countries and territories selected for the GRFC lacked data meeting the report’s technical requirements, often due to challenges regarding authorization, funding, or a lack of priority for data collection.

Notably, no updated estimates were available for Burkina Faso, the Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and displaced populations in Algeria and Ecuador,affecting over 27 million people previously identified as facing high levels of acute food insecurity.

Additionally, critical data gaps persist for vulnerable groups in 2026. No data is available for refugees in Chad, and no disaggregation is available for returnees in South Sudan.

The report concludes that the integrity of the data systems underpinning the GRFC is increasingly at risk, emphasizing that protecting and investing in food security and nutrition information systems is critical to safeguarding evidence-based decision-making.