Key Message Update: Security gains remain limited with no improvement on acute food insecurity

Security gains remain limited with no improvement on acute food insecurity Key Messages Haiti - Key Message Update January - May 2026 Despite some positive developments resulting from intensified law enforcement operations against gangs, security gains remain limited and insufficient to curb the resurgence of armed violence and kidnappings, driving Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes across the country. Several neighborhoods in the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area (ZMPP) — notably Cité Soleil, Croix-des-Bouquets, Port-au-Prince, and sites hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs) — remain in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), while most rural areas remain in Crisis (IPC Phase 3). Pressure on poor urban households and displaced populations is intensifying. Poor households are increasingly resorting to negative coping strategies, including reducing the number of meals, borrowing, begging, selling productive assets, and internal migration. These strategies contribute to the persistence of Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes and are expected to become more widespread during the lean season, from February to June. Clashes between armed groups and security forces, involving targeted operations and the use of heavy weapons and explosives, continue to disrupt mobility, markets, and access to essential services. Expanding territorial control by gangs limits trade flows, reduces economic activity, and restricts access to livelihoods, while also fueling new internal displacement. According to the International Organization for Migration, armed violence on January 8 in several neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince displaced approximately 5,836 people, most of whom were hosted by families or settled in existing sites, with concentrations in the communes of Port-au- Prince (42 percent), Delmas (29 percent), and Cité Soleil (28 percent). The winter agricultural season (pigeon peas, sorghum, beans, and maize) is unfolding amid persistent security constraints and worsening economic conditions. In several areas including Lower Artibonite, Lower Plateau, and the West (particularly Montrouis, Arcahaie, and ZMPP), lack of regular access to farmland, inputs, and markets due to insecurity has reduced area planted for the winter season, limiting production potential. Harvests expected between March and May are likely to be below average, reducing agricultural incomes and household food availability, while prolonging dependence on markets between February and May. At the same time, rising prices of agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizer, fuel), erosion of household purchasing power, limited access to credit, reduced agricultural incomes — along with residual FEWS NET is a United States Government-funded activity. The content of this report does not necessarily reflect the view of the United States Government. FEWS NET Haiti haiti@fews.net fews.net/latin-america-and-caribbean/haiti Recommended citation: FEWS NET. Haiti Key Message Update January - May 2026: Security gains remain limited with no improvement on acute food insecurity, 2026. Key Message Update This Key Message Update provides a high-level analysis of current acute food insecurity conditions and any changes to FEWS NET's latest projection of acute food insecurity outcomes in the specified geography. Learn more here. impacts of Hurricane Melissa, particularly in the Grand Sud — are constraining agricultural households’ capacity to invest and to rebuild their productive assets. Prices of staple foods remain atypically high and continue to severely limit economic access to food for poor households. In December 2025, despite relative month-on-month economic stability in most markets, prices of both local and imported food commodities remained well above the five-year average, with fluctuations reaching up to 130 percent above the five-year average, depending on the product and market. This price stability, supported by a relatively stable exchange rate of around 130 HTG/USD, has not translated into improved food access. The purchasing power of poor households remains severely eroded, contributing to the persistence of Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes.  * FEWS NET's classifications are IPC-compatible. IPC-compatible analysis follows key IPC protocols but does not necessarily reflect the consensus of national food security partners. As of IPC 3.0, the IPC no longer assesses the impact of food assistance on classification and thus no longer maps the (!). However, FEWS NET continues to produce food security maps inclusive of the (!) as well as maps compatible with IPC 3.0/3.1, which include the mapping of food security assistance bags. FEWS NET and the IPC use different methods to estimate the total Population in Need of humanitarian food assistance and assess the risk of Famine. Learn more at www.fews.net/about. Key Message Update January - May 2026 Famine Early Warning Systems Network 2