Nearly 6 million people in Haiti, about one in two residents, are facing high levels of acute food insecurity, according to a report released on Wednesday, October 28, by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a partnership backed by the United Nations, the Associated Press reported.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization put the figure at 5.94 million people, almost 2 million of them in emergency conditions, and called it one of the highest levels in the world. The total is up by nearly a quarter million since the IPC's previous report in April and could reach 6.35 million, more than half the population, by mid-2027.

The report links the crisis to gang violence and displacement, high food and fuel prices and an extreme El Niño. Farmers have been driven from their land, and blocked main roads keep goods from reaching Port-au-Prince and other areas. In 2014, only 2% of the population was food insecure, the AP noted.

“The numbers are really, really alarming in comparison with other years,” said Maxime Ngalula, Haiti country director for Action Against Hunger. Davina Hayles, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders, said she was very concerned about the surge of violence in densely populated neighborhoods of the capital.

The World Food Programme says it needs $78 million to sustain its operations in Haiti through March.