UNITED NATIONS - Violence sinks nearly half the population of Haiti to a crisis or worse food insecurity levels as gangsters block some meal distribution efforts, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on the latest official Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis. It said the figures continue to worsen. Nearly 5 million people in the country -- almost half the population -- face crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 and higher).

OCHA said the figure includes more than 1.6 million people facing "emergency" (IPC Phase 4) levels.

The office said that the most severely affected areas are in Haiti's breadbasket of the Artibonite valley, where armed groups have taken over farmland and stolen harvested crops. Also hard-hit are the West department, rural parts of Grand Anse in the south, and several poor neighborhoods in the capital of Port-au-Prince, including Croix des Bouquets and Cite Soleil, which saw pockets of catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5) in late 2022.

Still, OCHA said the United Nations and humanitarian partners continue to do everything possible to support Haitians. Unhindered and safe access is urgently needed.

The World Food Programme (WFP) reported that the gang violence and roadblocks on Thursday prevented the UN agency and local partners from distributing as many hot meals as planned. The WFP reached only 9,300 displaced people out of the more than 17,000 the agency intended to assist.

However, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it and its local partners delivered more than 60,000 liters of drinking water across five sites for displaced people in the capital on Friday.

Despite the risks of passing through gang-controlled routes, the IOM said people continue to flee Port-au-Prince. The agency reported that more than 33,000 people left since March 8.

OCHA said the humanitarian response plan for Haiti for 2024, which requires 674 million U.S. dollars, is just 6.5 percent funded, with only 43.5 million dollars received.