famine

Famine is a condition of extreme food insecurity in which a large portion of a population experiences severe hunger and increased mortality from malnutrition and related diseases. It involves a collapse of food availability, access, or affordability sustained over time and is distinguished from ordinary shortages by its severity and rate of deaths.

Famine results from a combination of factors, including drought, crop failure, price shocks, conflict, and governance failures. Climate variability and climate change raise the risk, while war and displacement can block aid and erode livelihoods, causing people to lose access to food even when some food remains in the region.

Indicators used by aid agencies include high mortality, widespread acute malnutrition, and large shares of households unable to meet basic food needs. The IPC designates famine as the most severe phase of hunger, requiring rapid humanitarian response such as food or cash assistance and targeted nutrition programs.

Notable famines include the Irish Great Famine (1845–1852), the Ukrainian Holodomor (1932–1933), the Bengal famine (1943), and the Chinese famine during the Great Leap Forward (1959–1961). In recent decades, famines or famine-like conditions have occurred in Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, and South Sudan.

Prevention and mitigation emphasize early warning and resilience: drought risk management, social protection, agricultural development, and safe humanitarian access. Relief efforts seek to save lives quickly, while longer-term efforts aim to reduce vulnerability and stabilize food systems.