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global hunger

Up to 21,000 people are dying each day from conflict-fuelled hunger around the world

On World Food Day, hunger has reached an all-time high exposing the flaws in global peacebuilding and conflict recovery efforts 

 

Between 7,000 to as many as 21,000 people are likely dying each day from hunger in countries impacted by conflict, according to a new Oxfam report published on World Food Day.

The report, Food Wars, examined 54 conflict-affected countries and found that they account for almost all of the 281.6 million people facing acute hunger today. Conflict has also been one of the main causes of forced displacement in these countries, which has globally reached a record level today of more than 117 million people.

It argues that conflict is not only a primary driver of hunger, but that warring parties are also actively weaponizing food itself by deliberately targeting food, water and energy infrastructure and by blocking food aid. 

“As conflict rages around the world, starvation has become a lethal weapon wielded by warring parties against international laws, causing an alarming rise in human deaths and suffering. That civilians continue to be subjected to such slow death in the 21st century, is a collective failure”, says Emily Farr, Oxfam’s Food and Economic Security Lead. 

“Today’s food crises are largely manufactured. Nearly half a million people in Gaza – where 83% of food aid needed is currently not reaching them – and over three quarters of a million in Sudan, are currently starving as the deadly impact of wars on food will likely be felt for generations.”

The report also found that the majority of the countries studied (34 out of 54) are rich in natural resources, relying heavily on exporting raw products. For example, 95% of Sudan’s export earnings come from gold and livestock, 87% of South Sudan’s come from petroleum products, and nearly 70% of Burundi’s come from coffee.

In Central America, meanwhile, mining operations have led to violent conflicts, uprooting people from their homes as they no longer become able to live in degraded and polluted environments.

Oxfam argues that currently peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction efforts are too often based on encouraging more foreign investment and export-related economies. However, this focus on economic liberalization can instead create more inequality, suffering and the potential for conflict to resume.

“It is no coincidence that the lethal combination of war, displacement and hunger has often occurred in countries rich in natural resources. The exploitation of these raw commodities often means more violence, inequality, instability, and renewed conflict. Too often, large-scale private investment—both foreign and domestic —has also added to political and economic instabilities in these countries, where investors seize control over land and water resources forcing people out of their homes,” said Farr.

Conflict often compounds other factors like climate shocks, economic instability and inequalities to devastate people’s livelihoods. For example, climate shocks like droughts and floods, coupled with the surge in global food prices associated with pandemic shut-downs and additional food-chain disruptions connected to the Russia-Ukraine war, have fueled the hunger crises in East and Southern Africa.

Many of those fleeing are women and children. Aisha Ibrahim, age 37, told Oxfam that she had to walk four days with her four children, leaving their home in Sudan for Joda, across the border in South Sudan. She left her husband behind to protect their home. “I used to live in a proper home. I could never imagine myself in this situation,” she said.

The international community’s pledge of “zero hunger” by 2030 remains out of touch. Oxfam says that states and institutions globally, including the UN Security Council, must hold to account those committing “starvation crimes” in accordance with international law.

“To break the vicious cycle of food insecurity and conflict, global leaders must tackle head-on the conditions that breed conflict: the colonial legacies, injustices, human rights violations, and inequalities – rather than offering quick band-aid solutions.”

“We cannot end conflict by simply injecting foreign investments in conflict-torn countries, without uprooting the deep inequalities, generational grievances, and human rights violations that fuel those conflicts. Peace efforts must be coupled with investment in social protection, and social cohesion building. Economic solutions must prioritize fair trade and sustainable food systems,” said Farr.

Notes to the Editor

  • Read Oxfam’s report, “Food Wars”
  • There has been an alarming rise in global conflict – not seen in decades – both in terms of number of wars and the death toll from conflict. Source: PRIO and UPSALA
  • Oxfam analysed 54 active conflict, refugee-hosting, and conflict legacy countries with populations in 2023 facing “crisis-level” acute food insecurity, i.e., at Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) 3 or higher. In total, nearly 278 million people in these countries faced crisis-level hunger in 2023, accounting for 99% of the global population at IPC 3+ (281.6 million people).
  • Oxfam has calculated the hunger mortality figure based on the crude death rate in the Integrated Food Insecurity Technical Manual, and the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) 2024 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) 3 or higher in conflict-affected countries. This was between 7,784 and 21,406 deaths per day or (5 -15 per minute). Source: GRFC 2024
  • In all 54 countries, conflict was a major cause of food insecurity, although in some, weather extremes or economic shocks may have been the principal driver.
  • 34 of 54 studied countries rely mainly on primary product exports, such as food, agriculture, and extractive industry products, or light assembly and low-end manufactures.
  • Natural resources exports figures are based on Trading Economics. (2023). Sudan Exports; World Bank. (2022). World Bank Report: With peace and accountability, oil and agriculture can support early recovery in South Sudan. Press Release, June 15; and Trading Economics. (2024) on Burundi Exports.; and USDA (US Department of Agriculture) Foreign Agriculture Service. (2022) on Ukraine Agricultural Production and Trade.
  • Food insecurity figures for Gaza are from IPC 2024, and for Sudan from IPC April report.
  • Recent analysis from aid agencies found 83% of food aid is not making it into the Gaza Strip
  • Globally, 117.3m people are forcibly displaced, of which 68.3m are internally displaced by conflict in 2023, that’s 90% of all IDPs (75.9m), Source: UNHCR 2024 and Migration Data Portal

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz — rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

South Sudan: Hunger crisis escalates

People in Pibor County resort to eating wild vegetables as hunger crisis escalates 

Upcoming rainy season set to reach record-high levels and will likely decimate crops. 

People in South Sudan’s Pibor county are forced to survive on wild vegetables and desert dates as the number of people dying from starvation rises. With torrential rains halting aid flights, the situation could get much worse quickly, warned Oxfam today.  

 More than half the population – over 7 million people – are already facing extreme hunger, including nearly 79,000 people facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity, which is more than double that of last year. 

Dr. Manenji Mangundu, Oxfam South Sudan Country Director said: “The scenes of suffering are heart-wrenching. Thousands of people both young and old are hungry and children severely malnourished; many people are going for days without anything to eat. Just this month alone, (July) more than 12 people died from starvation” 

 “The situation will be aggravated by flooding that has started. Record-level flooding is forecasted for this rainy season (June- September), and likely to decimate crops and probably push approximately 3.3 million already vulnerable people to a breaking point.” 

South Sudan continues to suffer from climate induced challenges-like flooding and drought. Over 70% of the country, including Pibor region, has been affected by floods for the past 6 consecutive years. This is aggravated by the economic crisis, ongoing conflict in neighbouring Sudan fueling hunger levels in the majority of communities within South Sudan. 

 Moreover, these drivers have together forced the plummeting of the South Sudanese currency and triggered the highest real food inflation since independence (164%) according to the World Bank, making it harder for people to access food. The prices of staple foods such as wheat, sorghum, oil, and flour have all increased, with some more than tripled since March this year. 

 Adau Nyok, living in the capital of Juba said: “Three months ago, I used to buy 10kg of flour for 3500 SSP ($3.50 NZD). Now it costs me 15,000 SSP ($15.75 USD). Unfortunately, the prices keep rising and we can no longer afford it due to lack of access to cash.”   

As Oxfam and partners provide life-saving interventions like food, cash, clean water supplies and sanitation in South Sudan, Oxfam staff have heard harrowing stories from families who are losing their children due to hunger.  Rebecca Korok Nyarek , who lost her young nephew, said: 

“I lost my nephew because of hunger. He was just 15 years old. There is no food at home. People are starving, and when you go out to the bushes in search of food, sometimes you will get something small to eat, even wild fruits are no longer available because of the rains and that’s how we sleep at night.’’  

Fourteen months into the conflict in Sudan, over 750,000 returnees and refugees have fled to South Sudan where theyfacing catastrophic conditions. Transit centers in Renk and Malakal, designed for 4,000 people, are now sheltering more people than five times their capacity.  

The situation is particularly dire for the refugees and returnees who are fleeing into South Sudan co-habiting with communities already facing extreme hunger while funding is very limited. South Sudan appeal is at 28%, seven months into the year.  

Malnutrition is increasing rapidly among children in the overcrowded temporary transit camps along the Sudan-South Sudan borders, exacerbating the crisis, while aid agencies are pulling out due to lack of funding.  

Aisha, a Sudanese refugee from Khartoum fled her home with her children after her husband was killed at his shop in the city:  “We have arrived here and although the sounds of the guns are no longer there, our children are hungry. Majority of the nights, we sleep on empty stomachs and now with the rains, our tents are sometimes washed away”, said Aisha. 

Oxfam urgently needs $15 million to scale up its operations and save lives of vulnerable children and women affected by the conflict, floods and diseases. 

“Failing to respond when people are starving is a moral failing that must not continue. Without urgent assistance now we risk many more lives. Humanitarian assistance delayed is aid denied, donors must act now” 

 

Note to editors 

  • IPC Figures- An estimated 79,000 people are in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe) in April-July 2024.  
  • According to a recent World Bank report South Sudan now holds the highest real food inflation rate in the world at 164 per cent. Real food inflation is defined as food inflation minus overall inflation. 
  • Oxfam calculated the price of flour using the official exchange rates of the Central Bank of South Sudan 

Oxfam Reaction to the UN State of Food Security and Nutrition Report 2024

In reaction to the UN’s 2024 edition of “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” (SOFI) report, which showed that one out of 11 people in the world, and one out of every five in Africa, may have faced hunger in 2023, Eric Munoz, Oxfam’s food policy expert, said:

“Global hunger remains stuck at shamefully high levels, driven by many reasons that together become convenient excuses for our governments to avoid decisive action. We grow enough food to feed people everywhere in the world and there are solutions to eradicate this terrible scourge.

“Countries facing high levels of hunger tend to be poor, highly-indebted, even exploited. They are also the most vulnerable to climate-related and economic shocks. Nearly 28 million people in East Africa are severely hungry because of worsening floods and droughts, conflict and poverty, while Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan struggle under a debt burden of $65 billion. They also need $7.49 billion in humanitarian assistance, but donors have to date met less than 20 percent of this. They are being short-changed at every turn.

“The UN today identifies a hole of trillions of dollars needed to end hunger.  Only bold political action can fill this gap. Private financing can be a partial solution, but runs the risk of increasing inequalities and sidelining local communities. More public funding is required especially into smallholder farmers in poorer countries and stronger social protection schemes, wide-scale debt relief, and for rich countries to meet their humanitarian and climate finance pledges.

“The world’s poorest people are paying the highest price of hunger. We need deeper, structural policy and social change to address all of the drivers of hunger, including economic injustice, climate change and conflict. We support Brazil’s efforts, as part of its G20 presidency, to form the new Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty.”

Contact

Rachel Schaevitz, rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz  

Notes:

Copyright © 2024 Oxfam Aotearoa.

Oxfam is a worldwide development organisation that mobilises the power of people against injustice. Oxfam Aotearoa is a registered charity with the New Zealand Charities Register (registration CC24641). Donations are tax refundable.

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