In 2025, hunger remained one of the world’s most urgent challenges, shaped by conflict, climate shocks, and economic instability. Families across the globe faced chronic food insecurity, limited access to clean water, and the immense risks of malnutrition—especially for children, pregnant women, and marginalized communities. Yet, our teams and the communities we work in have continued to adapt, finding ways to protect lives while laying the groundwork for long-term resilience.
Our most-read stories of 2025 reflect collective interest in the variety of ways hunger can be ended for everyone, for good. From lifesaving nutrition treatment on the frontlines of conflict zones to climate-smart agriculture initiatives in remote villages affected by climate change, readers have engaged with stories of meaningful action being taken to fight hunger around the world.
Our Top 5 Stories
1. Timeline of Action Against Hunger’s Emergency Response in Ukraine
As the war in Ukraine continued into 2025, millions of civilians remained displaced or struggling to meet their most basic needs. Ongoing conflict severely disrupted food systems, access to clean water, health services, and livelihoods—placing children, older adults, and people with disabilities at heightened risk of hunger and malnutrition. The crisis evolved rapidly, requiring sustained humanitarian action rather than short-term relief. Action Against Hunger has remained on the ground in Ukraine since the earliest days of the conflict, adapting its response as needs changed. Throughout 2025, teams delivered support from lifesaving assistance on the frontlines to mental health assistance in displaced communities.
Ukrainian women who were fleeing Russian invasion of Ukraine hold their children as they arrive at a temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland
2. Treating Nasteexo and Promoting Her Future
The Bayhaaw Stabilization Center in Somalia is supported by Action Against Hunger through the Caafimaad Plus Consortium, which has treated more than 54,000 children for malnutrition in 2025 alone, with a 97% recovery rate. Three-month-old Nasteexo was one of the children who received treatment this year, and support for her wellbeing did not end at the stabilization center’s doors. Action Against Hunger remains closely connected with her family, providing livelihood support such as drought-resistant seeds and cash assistance. This ongoing support helps her family move beyond emergency care toward lasting food security, ensuring Nasteexo does not fall into malnutrition again.
Caregivers and children connect at the stabilization center’s play area.
3. Enhancing Village Health and Nutrition Day Through Community Involvement
In Tanzania’s Bahi District, Village Health and Nutrition Days are helping turn national nutrition commitments into real change for families. These quarterly meetings bring communities together to share knowledge, access essential health services, and challenge long-held norms around who is responsible for maternal and child health. With support from Action Against Hunger and strong local leadership, these events are driving earlier detection of malnutrition, improving vaccination rates, and bettering health outcomes for families — showing how community involvement can transform nutrition policy into a lasting movement that uplifts families.
Nutrition education session at Mzogole village during the VHND.
4. Emergency Water Brings Relief to Drought-Affected Families in Somalia
When drought forced Salaado Mohamed Abdullahi and her seven children to walk nearly 28 miles in search of water, survival meant leaving everything behind. Today, clean water flows just steps from her home. Action Against Hunger’s emergency water trucking in Somalia supports families on the front lines of a worsening climate-driven water crisis. Our team’s timely water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) support is essential for preventing disease and offering a lifeline to communities struggling to endure drought, displacement, and rising costs.
Salaado and her children with jerry cans of clean water.
5. Climate-Smart Solutions for Food Security: A Community-Led Transformation in Kenya
In Malkadaka, Kenya, climate change has pushed families to the brink, as recurring droughts and floods undermine traditional livelihoods and threaten access to nutritious food. Action Against Hunger is addressing this challenge by supporting climate-smart agriculture—introducing drought-resistant crops, water-saving irrigation, and sustainable farming practices that help communities adapt. By pairing these solutions with market access and women-led economic empowerment, this community-led transformation is tackling the root causes of hunger and building long-term resilience in one of Kenya’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
In the remote village of Malkadaka, Kenya, a group of determined women is rewriting the story of hunger and climate resilience.
What These Stories Tell Us About Ending Hunger
Emergency response and long-term solutions must work together.
Across every context—from conflict-affected Ukraine to drought-stricken communities in Somalia—timely emergency assistance was critical to survival. But these stories also show that emergency aid alone is not enough. Sustained progress against hunger requires follow-up support that strengthens livelihoods, protects health, and prevents families from falling back into crisis.
Community leadership drives sustainable change.
Whether through village health days in Tanzania or women-led farming groups in Kenya, local leadership consistently proved essential. When communities are empowered with knowledge, resources, and decision-making power, nutrition and health interventions become more effective, inclusive, and enduring.
Climate resilience is essential to ending hunger.
Climate change is no longer a future threat—it is a present driver of hunger. These stories underscore the importance of solutions that help communities adapt, from emergency water access during droughts to climate-smart agriculture that conserves resources and diversifies diets. Building resilience to climate shocks is central to protecting food security and preventing malnutrition.
Together, these five stories illuminate a clear path forward: ending hunger demands coordinated humanitarian aid, community-driven solutions, and long-term investment in resilience. The progress we’ve achieved in 2025—from Nasteexo’s recovery in Somalia to sustainable farming solutions in Kenya—reflects the potential for lasting change. With the power of partnership between our teams, dedicated communities, and donors who believe in our mission, we are positioned to continue these life-changing interventions and reach even more families in the year ahead.
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