The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday that every one percent cut in food assistance risks pushing more than 400,000 people towards the brink of starvation.

This comes as WFP is being forced to cut rations amid donor funding shortfalls.

WFP experts have warned that in the next 12 months, an additional 24 million people around the world could slip into emergency hunger – a 50 percent increase on the current level.

“With the number of people around the world facing starvation at record levels, we need to be scaling up life-saving assistance – not cutting it,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. “If we don’t receive the support we need to avert further catastrophe, the world will undoubtedly see more conflict, more unrest, and more hunger. Either we fan the flames of global instability, or we work quickly to put out the fire.”

According to a statement issued by WFP, there are currently 345 million people facing acute food insecurity worldwide, with 40 million of these in emergency levels of hunger. These are people forced to take desperate measures to survive and are at risk of dying from malnutrition. WFP’s food assistance is a vital lifeline, often the only thing separating them from starvation.

WFP has been struggling to meet the global need for food assistance while facing a funding shortfall of over 60 percent this year – the highest in WFP’s 60-year history. And for the first time ever, WFP has seen contributions decreasing while needs steadily increase.

“There’s only one way out of this,” the WFP chief said. “We need to fund emergency operations to feed the hungry today while simultaneously investing in long-term solutions that address the root causes of hunger. Our shared goal must be ending the vicious, unsustainable, and costly cycle of crisis and response.”

Afghanistan is one of numerous countries that relies on significant food assistance from the WFP.

Earlier this month WFP said 21 million people in Afghanistan need life-saving food aid and nutrition, and livelihood support; but that it only has the ability to help one out of five people who go to bed hungry at night. This came after the organization was forced to cut aid to two million people in Afghanistan.