The United Nations World Food Program is expanding early-response operations across dozens of vulnerable countries as a strengthening El Niño weather pattern threatens to push an estimated 49 million additional people into acute food insecurity by the end of 2027.
The agency said on Wednesday it is scaling up what humanitarian organizations increasingly call "anticipatory action" — using climate forecasts to move assistance, financing and emergency support into vulnerable communities before disasters strike rather than responding only after crises unfold.
