Displaying items by tag: famine

The USA is launching new peace talks to end Sudan’s 16-month civil war, driven by fears that the conflict is plunging the country into potentially the worst famine in decades. Sudan’s military, one of the two warring factions, had originally agreed to attend the negotiations in Switzerland, but changed their minds after a drone attack on the army chief, dashing hopes for a quick ceasefire. The talks aim to broker a ceasefire and secure humanitarian access for over ten million displaced people. Famine has been declared in Sudan’s Darfur region, with estimates suggesting up to 2.5 million people could die of hunger by September. Only one-third of the $2.7 billion requested by the UN for Sudan has been received so far: the UN fears that as many as 26 million face acute hunger. See

UN officials have accused Israel of systematically blocking aid from reaching desperate Palestinians in Gaza, warning that a quarter of the population is ‘one step away from famine’. On 29 February over a hundred died and 750 were wounded when Israeli soldiers opened fire on crowds waiting for food aid. The conflict has now resulted in over 30,000 Palestinian casualties. Much of Gaza has been devastated. The officials highlighted the urgent need for food aid, with one in six children under two in northern Gaza suffering from acute malnutrition. However, delivering aid is hampered by numerous obstacles, including crossing closures, restrictions on movement, and attacks on aid convoys. In the event of a ceasefire, the World Food Programme is ready to swiftly expand operations; however, US hopes of an imminent truce seem very slim.

North Korea is teetering on the brink of famine. Their official newspaper urges economic self-reliance, arguing that relying on external aid to cope with the food situation would be like taking ‘poisoned candy’. A US thinktank said North Korea is reeling from floods, typhoons and global sanctions over its nuclear programme and is on the brink of famine. Food insecurity is at its ‘worst since the 1990s famine’, and food availability is likely below the bare minimum for human needs. Experts say the current food shortages, triggered by poor harvests amid extreme weather conditions, have been exacerbated by lockdowns and a sharp reduction in trade with China due to border closures during the pandemic. Pyongyang called for an ‘urgent’ meeting of the Workers’ Party on agriculture this month. It is rare for such a special meeting. They have also reduced daily food rations to soldiers for the first time since 2000.

For three decades Somalia has lurched between disorder and anarchy. The government controls only bits of the country. The rest is in the hands of al-Shabab jihadists adept at blowing themselves up in crowded places. For many Somalis life is poor, brutish, and short. They live in the world’s fifth poorest and eighth most violent country. Their life expectancy is the sixth lowest. Droughts and floods add to the misery. In 2011 failed rains contributed to the worst famine of the 21st century: more than 250,000 people died, half of them children. A decade later history may repeat itself. The worst drought in four decades is wilting crops and killing livestock. On 5 September government officials said an even greater catastrophe could sweep the country within days or weeks unless more help arrives. Over 18 million people can’t find enough to eat; children are dying. Pray for hospitals to have enough nutritional supplements for children. See also

Hunger is stalking the world. In 2017 the UN vowed to eradicate it by 2030. Yet the number of people affected globally reached 828 million last year, and an unprecedented 345 million are currently experiencing acute food insecurity. Since May 2020 there has been a 55% increase in the food price index. The head of the World Food Programme said, ‘We thought it could not get any worse’ - but the Ukraine war has worsened freight and fertiliser costs due to rising fuel prices, and has blocked ports. Ukraine and Russia previously accounted for almost one-third of global wheat exports. Many middle-income countries have spent large parts of their reserves due to the pandemic. Even in wealthier countries, more parents are going hungry to feed their children. In low-income countries rising prices are deadly. Around 2.3 billion people face moderate or severe difficulty obtaining enough to eat, which could result in social unrest and political violence.

On 31 May the UN's top humanitarian official for the Horn of Africa predicted a devastating outlook for millions of Somalis, amid worsening famine. Before the end of 2022, 7.1 million people will be affected by drought and famine. He said that 1.4 million children face acute malnutrition, and 330,000 are likely to become severely malnourished. Currently 6.1 million Somalis are affected by this drought emergency. Of that number, 771,400 (mostly women and children) have been displaced from their homes in search of water, food and pasture. The outlook has worsened due to the prospects of a fifth consecutive failed rainy season. Pray for God to strengthen and empower all who are providing aid to the hundreds of thousands experiencing acute food insecurity. Pray for medics and medication to be released to those experiencing severe malnutrition and acute watery diarrhoea. Pray for those mourning the deaths of loved ones.

Kenya is in a world of hurt. Joy Mueller of Kenya Hope says, ‘They look at having no food to feed their families and no money to pay school fees or buy the things they need. For the third year in a row, these poor people are just devastated. First, the pandemic locked everything down, so rural Kenyans couldn’t buy supplies or sell their livestock at the market. Then right on the heels of the pandemic, they got hit with a severe drought. All the water sources dried up; pastureland was gone and animals were dying. For the people here, their animals are their bank accounts. 2022 seemed to be the start of something better when they got some beautiful rain in February. Hope sprang again, but then they were hit by African armyworms. They’re called armyworms because they march across the field eating every green thing in their path.’

The Horn of Africa is in crisis with drought and food insecurity. 20 million are impacted or in need of aid; pray for the survival needs of both livestock and humans to be met after three failed rainy seasons back to back. In Somalia 4.3 million people are hungry, and people fear a repeat of the 2012 famine. In Ethiopia, the drought is compounding the humanitarian disaster of the war in the country’s north, while in neighbouring Kenya’s pastoralist zone, the loss of cattle is triggering raids and clashes between communities. In Myanmar farmers say the 2021 coup worsened food insecurity and is nothing short of a disaster. Humanitarian needs multiply and continue to spiral. One million people needed aid before the coup; now it’s 14 million. 500,000 people have been displaced since the coup, a quarter of the population is food insecure and violent new conflicts spread in a new wave of anti-coup militias. ‘There is fear everywhere’, one aid worker said.

The Horn of Africa has experienced prolonged drought, rapidly increasing food prices, and escalating armed conflict. A nutrition crisis is exacerbated by climate change and Covid-19. Families are fleeing their homes in search of safety and arable land. In 2011 they experienced the worst drought in sixty years, and are still reeling from the effects. Somalia is experiencing full-on famine. Drought conditions in northern Kenya, much of Somalia, and southern Ethiopia are predicted to persist until at least mid-2022, putting lives at risk. The situation is already so bad that wild animals are dying in their hundreds and herders are reporting losses of up to 70% of their livestock. Kenya is home to vulnerable and endangered species which include lions, giraffes and the world's only two surviving northern white rhinos. The coast is also a transit route for migratory whales, dolphins and endangered turtles. The biggest-ever animal census was recently carried out from the marine parks and forest reserves of coastal Kenya.

The World Food Programme delivering food in Afghanistan said, ‘The Afghan people need our support now more than ever before. 1 in 3 people are hungry and 2 million children are malnourished. With drought, pandemic, and conflict, the food security situation will continue to worsen, and hunger will rise. Despite security and logistics challenges, we deliver food and nutrition assistance to people uprooted from their homes, but we need your help to reach more.’ We can pray for an increase in donations to this mission which has been in Afghanistan for almost sixty years. See Save The Children reported that more Afghan children are going hungry than ever before. Almost 14 million children are expected to face crisis this winter. These millions of children are hungry, cut off from aid supplies, out of school, and facing the threats of violence and the approaching winter. Temperatures can drop to -16 C on some nights.