What is famine? Causes and effects and how to stop it (original) (raw)

According to a global report released this week, 1 in 5 people in Gaza are now facing starvation. Food prices are soaring—a bag of wheat flour costs as much as $520. And in a third of households, people reported collecting garbage to sell for food.

"Gaza’s starvation is not incidental—it is deliberate and entirely engineered," said Oxfam’s Food Security and Livelihoods Coordinator, Mahmoud Alsaqqa. "A preventable famine unfolding in real time."

At Oxfam, we’ve been focused on the fight to end hunger since our founding. So, we’re going to define what exactly is famine, what causes it, share an example of a famine, and explain how people like you can help stop famine in its tracks.

What does famine mean?

Famine is “an extreme crisis of access to adequate food.” Visible in “widespread malnutrition” and “loss of life due to starvation and infectious disease,” famine robs people of their dignity, equality, and for some—their lives.

So how do we know a famine is occurring? The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, is a common global scale that informs how governments and aid groups should respond when people lose reliable access to sufficient, affordable, and nutritious food. It’s a five-phase warning system to inspire urgent action before it’s too late.

For a famine to exist in a given area—Phase 5 of the acute food insecurity scale—three conditions, backed by evidence, must be met:

Since the Government of Israel instituted a full blockade on aid and commercial goods on March 2nd, 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. As of right now, the IPC has not classified Gaza as a famine. But according to the IPC, there is now a “high” risk that famine will occur by September 2025 absent the end of the conflict and the urgent delivery of a sufficient amount of lifesaving assistance to those in need.

What-is-famine-drought

Said Abdi Duale and his family sit down with Oxfam staff. They live in a camp supporting people who have fled their homes in the Sanaag región of Somaliland. "First we had people, family, we had animals. We used the animals for eating, for cooking, for selling the milk, for everything. Now we don't have anything and the drought caused the death of all the animals which we had." Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam Intermón

What causes a famine?

Famines are caused by multiple factors. Since 2020, a deadly combination of conflict, COVID-19, and climate change has dramatically increased the number of people suffering from severe hunger. When compounded by inaction or policy decisions that make people more vulnerable, famine can result and society can collapse.

In Gaza, many challenges are putting people on the brink of famine:

Political scientist Alex de Waal calls famine a political scandal, a “catastrophic breakdown in government capacity or willingness to do what [is] known to be necessary to prevent famine.” When governments fail to prevent or end conflict—or help families prevent food shortages brought on by any reason—they fail their own people.

What is an example of a famine?

The 1984 famine in Ethiopia took the lives of 1 million people, driven in part by drought, conflict, and the policy choices of national and regional authorities. Estimates suggest around 1 million people survived thanks to the delivery of humanitarian aid.

On the evening of Tuesday, October 23, 1984, NBC Nightly News aired footage taken by an Ethiopian videographer that showed scores of deceased people on stretchers that were being taken toward makeshift graveyards. Though the scenes inspired a robust international response, the nature of that response overlooked the capacity of communities affected by the famine to help themselves.

By the next morning, Oxfam America had received over 300 calls an hour from people like you who wanted to help. During the relief effort, feeding centers provided hungry people with food rations. Makeshift hospitals supported severely dehydrated people with IVs, providing shots of tetracycline to fight infection. Oxfam delivered protein and fat-fortified biscuits to those in need that saved many lives, but some could not eat them, as their mouths were riddled with open sores because of dehydration.

“These scenes of death and dying in the famine camps in Ethiopia were beyond the American experience, beyond anyone’s comprehension,” recalls Bernie Beaudreau, an Oxfam staffer at the time.

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Ali Shire Omar used to be a pastoralist before the worsening droughts in Somalia killed off most of his livestock. With Oxfam's help, he was able to start farming with the help of a greenhouse and access to a functional water well. "It is a good thing to help people in need," he said. "I personally believe it is a win for the community." Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam Intermón

Can famine be stopped?

Famine can be stopped—now, and in the long term. But governments and aid groups must anticipate a worsening hunger crisis, secure the resources and political will to address the root causes of hunger, and safely deliver humanitarian aid to those most in need.

In Gaza and countries like Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia, and Madagascar, Oxfam is working to reduce the likelihood of famine with people like you. Here are some ways you can support Oxfam’s work: