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4. When was the last famine declared?

As of October 2024, famine was officially declared in the Darfur region of Sudan. At its most extreme, displaced families in Zamzam refugee camp have faced seven months of famine like conditions, struggling with crippling food shortages and a severe lack of basic health services. In February 2017 famine was declared in parts of South Sudan on where nearly 80,000 people faced famine conditions (IPC Phase 5) in parts of Unity State in the central north. Another one million people were classified as in emergency conditions or IPC4. This followed three years of civil war that had devastated livelihoods, coupled with an ailing economy and high food prices. A famine was declared in parts of southern Somalia in 2011 when 490,000 people were experiencing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity or IPC5 due to conflict, drought, and high food prices.

About 260,000 people died, over half of whom were children aged under five.

When another drought crippled Somalia in 2017, rapid action helped avert a famine.

5. Why are children in Gaza and Sudan at risk of famine?

Right now, hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza and parts of Sudan are facing famine-like conditions. With limited aid and assistance flowing into these regions, the crisis is worsening by the day.  The warning signs have been ignored for too long, leading to a catastrophic crisis. Hundreds of thousands of children who have managed to dodge bullets and bombs are now facing death by starvation and disease. Extreme conditions have increased mortality rates, leaving millions struggling to survive.

Across the world, in parts of Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen, South Sudan and Ethiopia, children are at risk of famine as well. The global call to action is now more urgent than ever.

For those still fighting to survive, time is quickly running out to prevent long-lasting impacts. Malnutrition can cause stunting, impede mental and physical development, and weaken immune systems. At the same time, children and families are often forced to take desperate measures to survive when they can’t access food. Many families still desperately need assistance to prevent further disaster. Children are being recruited into armed groups with the promise of food and protection, exposing them to devastating violence and harm.

The situation is particularly dire in Gaza, where recent reports highlight a long-standing humanitarian crisis. 

6. What is the latest analysis on Gaza and Sudan? How many people are facing IPC Phases 3, 4, or 5?

In both Gaza and Sudan, months of violent conflict, coupled with severely restricted access and denials of aid have triggered record levels of life-threatening hunger. 

In 2024, data from the IPC revealed that in Gaza, after a year of Israeli bombardment and near-total siege almost the entire population (96%) is facing severe food shortages (IPC 3+), with more than 495,000 people facing the most severe levels (IPC 5). 

Now Gaza is now facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023. After a reprieve during an initial 6-week pause in hostilities, a total siege once again hampered the entry of aid and supplies. Every day, aid is prevented from reaching those who need it most.  Nearly all 1.1 million children can’t get enough to eat and continue to go without the clean drinking water, medicine or shelter. 

In October 2024 famine has been officially declared in the Darfur region of Sudan.  More than a year of conflict has turned Sudan’s breadbasket into battlefields, leaving 3 in 4 children – or 25.6 million –facing severe food shortages (IPC 3+) – a number which has almost doubled in just 6 months. This includes 3.7million children who are now facing acute malnutrition, 755,000 people face catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC 5). With aid blocked and fears of further increased mortality, the situation demands the world's attention.

In both contexts, the IPC have reported that a lack of data to verify child malnutrition and death rates meant it was not possible to determine if thresholds for a famine classification were met.

7. What action can be taken to avert a famine? 

There are four key areas that are critical to averting famine:
1) early warning and action
2) an international coordinated response
3) full and unimpeded humanitarian access and
4) cessation of conflicts

These factors are needed to ensure food, agricultural inputs, livestock supports, water, sanitation, and hygiene, health and nutrition reach the most vulnerable communities.

Full and unimpeded humanitarian access is particularly essential to establish operations, as well as move goods and personnel where they are needed. This is particularly the case in conflict zones where safe access is critical.

While it is vital to respond in the short term to save lives, the long-term focus must be on the underlying drivers of hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity, including conflict and climate change. International aid can significantly boost these efforts.

This includes building the resilience of families’ livelihoods, markets, and food systems while governments must implement long-term, costed nutrition plans. 

8. Why are children affected more by a famine than adults? 

Children facing malnutrition due to starvation are much more susceptible to disease and illnesses such as dysentery, diarrhea, cholera, malaria, and pneumonia.

Without enough nutritious food to eat or the ability to absorb the right nutrients due to illness, children under five are at high risk of acute malnutrition which can lead to death - or if a child survives, can cause stunting, and impede mental and physical development longer term.

Famine conditions also make families much more likely to take drastic measures to survive, including marrying younger children off for food or money, or taking children permanently out of school to work.

9. Why is use of the term famine so controversial?

Famine’s definition involves both human suffering and political influence, highlighting its deep social and economic impact.

For people, it destroys livelihoods resulting in life-threatening shortages of food, increased severe malnutrition, disease outbreaks, and excess deaths.

For humanitarian organizations, famine is the outcome of prevention and response failure.

For governments, it can be politically contentious as it can point to a failure of governance and inability to provide basic protection for people.

10. What causes a famine?

Famine is a devastating crisis caused by multiple interconnected factors. Below are some of the top contributors:

Conflict 
Today, conflict is the biggest driver of global food insecurity. Armed conflicts across the world—from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Ukraine—are displacing families, destroying farmland, and forcing millions into refugee status. War damages essential infrastructure needed to guarantee access to food and water. Many children in lethal war zones already face extreme weather events and face unprecedented levels of hunger.

Climate Change 
The overlapping impacts of climate change, conflict and inequality are putting a huge strain on families’ ability to access food, resulting in 333 million people facing acute food insecurity. Frequent and recurring climate shocks – such as drought, flooding, and cyclones – are repeatedly destroying homes, schools and livelihoods, decimating farming and livestock, disrupting water sources, causing food price spikes, and driving population displacement. This leaves countless children with the ever-growing threat of hunger.

Economic Instability
Economic turmoil has driven up prices, creating a cost-of-living crisis across the world–pushing the price of food beyond the reach of many families. This triple threat is feeding hunger, and it is children who are hit worse. While food prices are reaching record levels in many economies, people's ability to afford such inflated costs is worse than ever due to the slow recovery from the pandemic and lack of jobs and income. Inflation rates skyrocketed and have reached triple digits in some countries. Many of these countries are already on the frontline of other crises like violent conflict, climate shocks or political upheaval. These spiraling costs are propelling millions into poverty and hunger.

Displacement
Hunger is both a driver and an outcome of displacement. When drought or conflict has decimated crops and livestock or restricted access to markets or basic services, families are forced to leave home in search of food, water or livelihood opportunities, leaving behind their friends, schools, communities and everything they’ve known. Families uprooted from their homes—many living in displacement camps or overcrowded communities—often struggle to access enough food.

Drought
Droughts occur when prolonged periods of drier-than-average weather lead to shortages in water supplies. Some of the effects of drought include agricultural impacts, such as withering crops and dying livestock and increasing rates of malnutrition due to insufficient food.

Supply Chain Breakdowns
Conflict, extreme weather, and economic instability can severely disrupt food production and distribution. This creates shortages of essential food commodities and critical treatment for severe malnutrition. At times supply chains are not equipped to meet demand. Supply chain disruptions make transporting and importing food difficult, leaving many children vulnerable to hunger and starvation.

To truly put an end to global hunger and prevent famine, the international community must address these root causes. Only by tackling these issues and building resilient health, nutrition, and social protection systems—less vulnerable to shocks—can we prevent future crises.
 

11. What's the difference between hunger, malnutrition and famine?

Hunger, malnutrition, and famine are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings and implications. While they are interconnected, each represents a different level of food insecurity and its impact on individuals and communities.

Hunger
Broadly, hunger is the body’s way of signaling that it is running short of food and needs something to eat. Sustained hunger can lead to undernutrition, which is the outcome of insufficient food intake and repeated infectious diseases. In children, undernutrition includes being too short for one’s age (stunted), dangerously thin for one’s height (wasted), and deficient in vitamins and minerals (micronutrient malnutrition). Stunting is the failure to grow physically and cognitively and is the result of chronic malnutrition. The effects of stunting often last a lifetime. Hunger impacts one in nine people worldwide and one in four of the world’s children are stunted due to malnutrition. 

Malnutrition 
Malnutrition occurs when individuals experience significant food gaps in food consumption resulting in wasting. Wasting is the result of sudden or acute malnutrition, where the child is not getting enough calories from food and faces an immediate risk of
death.  Severe acute malnutrition (S.A.M), also known as severe wasting, is the most extreme and visible form of undernutrition − especially for children under five. It can impede mental and physical development, weaken their immune systems and turn childhood illnesses into killer diseases. Malnutrition is preventable and treatable, yet approximately 16 million children under five suffer from severe, potentially fatal cases each year.

Famine 
What is a famine? Famine represents the most extreme level of food insecurity on the IPC scale. Famine is defined as ‘extreme lack of food and/or other basic needs,’ where starvation, death, destitution are evident. Evidence for all three criteria (food consumption, acute malnutrition, and mortality) is required to classify famine. Tragically, one in five deaths among children under the age of five is attributed to severe acute malnutrition, highlighting the devastating consequences of prolonged food shortages.

Understanding the differences between hunger, malnutrition, and famine is crucial for addressing food insecurity and implementing effective solutions to support vulnerable populations worldwide.