Key Takeaways
- Stockpile advice: Dozens of governments, including the United States, tell households to keep emergency food and water. The Pentagon wants major bases able to run 90 days alone.
- The US plan to fight global hunger: Congress gave Feed the Future $720 million for fiscal 2026, but the strategy guiding that money, due in July, has not appeared. The funds expire on September 30, 2027.
- What still moves: Payment rails and private credit, including a World Food Programme blockchain that has avoided $324 million in duplicate aid.
The United States tells households to keep food, water and supplies for several days, yet it has no published plan to fight global hunger with the $720 million Congress set aside for Feed the Future in fiscal 2026, Devex reported. Britain, Germany and Japan give similar stockpile advice.
Governments From Washington to Tokyo Tell Households to Stock Up
Newsweek's map lists 33 countries with stockpile advice, by WYDE's count. Of those that state a period, most advise 72 hours, and Germany says up to 10 days. Japan will urge every household from November 2 to hold three days of supplies, the Daily Mail reported. Related WYDE coverage: the 33 countries advising stockpiles.
The Pentagon goes furthest. Under the FORTRESS initiative Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched on September 30, every major base in the continental United States should run on its own for at least 90 days, The War Zone reported. "We don't want to rely on standard civilian municipal infrastructure to run our national defense," Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell told Fox News, Mediaite noted.
The pressure starts upstream. J.P. Morgan's researchers project global food inflation rising from 2.8% in the first half of 2026 to about 5% a year later, and note there is no coordinated fertilizer reserve like the one for oil, according to a summary of their report.
Global Hunger Fell to 7.8% as Healthy Diets Grew Costlier
Hunger fell to 7.8% of the world's population in 2025 from 8.1%, about 645 million people, the UN's State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report found. But 2.1 billion people faced moderate or severe food insecurity, and 2.69 billion cannot afford a healthy diet, which cost 4.28 purchasing-power-parity dollars a day, up from 3.44 in 2021. In the United States, 47.9 million people lived in food-insecure households in 2024, according to the USDA.
Feed the Future Has $720 Million and No Spending Plan
The five-year Global Food Security Strategy that guides the $720 million was expected in July and had not appeared by late October, Devex reported. A State Department spokesperson said the department would "aim to deliver the Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) as soon as we are able."
USAID, which led Feed the Future from its start, collapsed last year. In 2025 the government spent at least $70 million on existing programs and cancelled all but one of 17 Innovation Labs, against a $1 billion budget in the program's final year. In mid-October the State Department announced seven new lab awards.
"There's money in the appropriations bill, there are directives there, and the numbers in the IPC reports are alarming," said Emily Byers of Save the Children. The IPC is the UN-backed system that grades hunger crises.
Venture Money Went to the Checkout. Aid Money Went Onchain.
Agrifoodtech funding was flat at $16.2 billion in 2025, AgFunder found. On October 29 DoorDash agreed to buy Instacart for about $17 billion. By WYDE's arithmetic, that one deal is about 5% larger than the sector's whole year of funding.
The least glamorous crypto use is the one that works. The World Food Programme's Building Blocks blockchain has helped aid groups avoid $324 million in duplicate assistance since 2022. In September the Circle Foundation backed UNDP and the World Food Programme to test stablecoin payments for aid.
Credit is moving the same way. Debt reached 18.2% of agrifood funding in 2025, its highest share in a decade, AgFunder found, and Birch Hill raised $4 million to bring U.S. farm and apartment loans onchain, Decrypt reported.
What to Watch Into 2027
Public money for hunger is stalled and expiring. Private capital has gathered at the point of sale. The cheapest measurable wins come from the plumbing between a dollar and a meal. For anyone placing capital next year, that is the map.
People Also Ask
Does the US have a plan to fight global hunger?
Not a published one. Congress allocated $720 million to Feed the Future for fiscal 2026, but the State Department has not released the five-year Global Food Security Strategy that guides the spending, Devex reported.
Which countries tell residents to stockpile food?
Newsweek's map lists 33 countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany and Japan. Of those that state a period, most advise 72 hours.
How many people face hunger worldwide?
About 645 million people, or 7.8% of the world's population, faced hunger in 2025, according to the UN's annual hunger report.
Sources: Devex, Newsweek, The War Zone, FAO, AgFunderNews, World Food Programme.