Food crisis and war, more than 85% of hungry people live in areas of the world affected by conflict

MILAN – According to a new report by Action Against Hunger, released today, conflict and violence, which are the main drivers of hunger, threaten the food security of millions of people around the world. Suffice it to say that 85% of the 258 million people in conditions of food crisis live in a country in conflict. Furthermore, for 117 million, conflicts are the main and direct cause of hunger. In his report “No matter who’s fighting, hunger always wins” (“No matter who is fighting, hunger always wins”) the global organization highlights how it is hunger, in the end, that wins every conflict, and how it is always the people who pay the highest price civilians. The report analyzes data from a broad range of conflicts around the world to identify specific and complex connections between war and hunger.

FORM THE APPEAL

The pronouncement of the UN Security Council. Five years ago on May 24, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2417, which recognizes the deadly link between conflict and hunger and declares that the use of hunger as a weapon can constitute a war crime. Despite this historic move, no prosecutions have since been opened for crimes related to hunger and food insecurity caused by conflicts is on the rise. “Conflicts are the main cause of hunger in the world, yet both conflicts and hunger are preventable. And this is what makes them even more unacceptable – says Simone Garroni, director of Action Against Hunger – the alarming resurgence of hunger in the world goes hand in hand with the growing number and intensity of armed conflicts and with the blatant disregard of international humanitarian law by the belligerents”.

The countries where famine was and is still being experienced. International humanitarian law prohibits forced displacement, mine contamination and attacks on land, food, water and humanitarian workers. However, Action Against Hunger and other organizations present on the ground in countries affected by long and bloody conflicts, report that these actions continue to be carried out with impunity, depriving people of the possibility of feeding themselves and their families. Suffice it to say that in 2022, 376,400 people experienced conditions of famine in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen – all countries facing prolonged conflicts or severe conditions of insecurity.

Direct testimonials. The report of Action Against Hunger it includes first-hand accounts of the impact of conflicts on food security in many countries, such as the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Syria. A Syrian interviewee said: “the armed people in this country do not respect civilians and this causes enormous suffering in the population. This year we have sown our lands with wheat and barley; the harvest season is very close. The rains have been scarce this winter and we cannot irrigate with water from our wells because all the equipment has been looted”.

Here are the concrete acts that cause hunger. The report details all the ways in which acts of violence cause hunger, such as forced displacement, destruction or looting of crops, dispossession of land, destruction of essential infrastructure and services, contamination of land farms with landmines and, last but not least, obstacles to humanitarian access. Finally, the analysis offers recommendations on how warring parties and UN member states can reduce conflict-induced hunger and invest in peace-building to prevent food insecurity. To support its requests, Action Against Hunger has launched a petition in all the countries of its network, asking citizens to join the appeal addressed to world leaders.

The appeal of the NGO

1. implementing Resolution 2417 and sanctioning the use of starvation as a weapon of war;

2. ensuring people’s access to food during conflicts;

3. investing in building peace and protecting civilians from the impact of conflict.

Who is Action Against Hunger. It is an international humanitarian organization specialized in the fight against child hunger and malnutrition. It works to save the lives of severely malnourished children and to provide entire communities with water, food, education and healthcare to live free from hunger. It mobilizes to push people and governments to collective action against the structural causes of this unacceptable injustice. They have been intervening for 40 years in 51 countries around the world, using almost 90% of the funds raised in the field.