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Luke Lindberg, new WFP chief, says ending conflict is the top way to cut world hunger

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Luke Lindberg, the new Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said on Wednesday, 28 October 2026 that reducing conflict is the single most effective way to tackle global hunger, UN News reported. Conflict drives two thirds of the acute food insecurity affecting 266 million people, he said.

Luke Lindberg: Food is distributed to people in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who fled their homes because of gang conflict
Food is distributed to people in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who fled their homes because of gang conflict Photo: © WFP/Sylvain Barral via UN News (editorial use with credit).

Luke Lindberg sets out WFP priorities

Speaking at his first press conference at UN Headquarters in New York since taking office earlier this week, Lindberg said: “Conflict is a man-made situation. It is something that we can solve.” He added that El Nino is set to push 49 million more people into acute food insecurity, while chokepoints in global supply chains are making things worse. Lindberg said WFP did not need “big platitudes or big announcements” but execution, built on three priorities: protecting staff, strengthening donor partnerships and improving operations every day. More than 700 humanitarians have been killed in the last few years, he said. “Nobody should lose their life trying to save somebody else’s,” he said.

Key Facts

  • New WFP chief: Luke Lindberg
  • People in acute food insecurity: 266 million
  • Share driven by conflict: two thirds
  • El Nino risk: 49 million more people
  • First trip: Sudan

“Conflict is a man-made situation. It is something that we can solve.”

— Luke Lindberg, WFP Executive Director

Sudan first trip and acute food insecurity

Lindberg said his first trip as Executive Director would be to Sudan in a couple of weeks, to thank frontline staff. Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia are the three operations WFP is currently focusing on, he said: “In the short run, it’s no more famines.” On Gaza, he said the number of people going hungry was unacceptable, and that while WFP has access to deliver food, it is cutting back because of funding shortfalls. He also pledged to invest in preparedness before disasters, including through tools such as artificial intelligence, and to “go big” on school meals. “If anywhere in the world there are people attacking humanitarians, I will absolutely do what I can to protect them,” he said.

World Food Programme funding and his US links

Lindberg said the United States remains WFP’s largest funder and the private sector is now its fifth-largest donor. Asked if he saw himself as Washington’s representative at the UN, he called it “an unfair characterization”, saying his mandate from the Secretary-General is to end hunger. He said US President Donald Trump had personally called to ask him to be the US nominee for the post. Lindberg previously served as Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the US Department of Agriculture. He succeeds Cindy McCain, who led WFP from April 2023 to May 2026, and Carl Skau, acting Executive Director since June. “There is no one nation, no one entity that can do this alone,” he said, adding that he would be a “team player” across the UN system.

Why It Matters: WFP is the world's largest humanitarian food agency, and its new chief's priorities will shape aid to hunger hotspots as funding shrinks.

Also on TrendDesh: Gaza food aid cut by a third as WFP funding shortfall hits 500,000 people before winter · El Obeid: UN investigators say Sudan civilians face drone strikes and mass arrests

Source: UN News: Ending conflict is number one thing to reduce hunger, new WFP chief says · World Food Programme · UN Secretary-General

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