At Death's Door

Around three million people are estimated to be severely food-insecure in north-eastern Nigeria, South Sudan and Somalia. JONATHAN POUND looks at the reasons famine still plagues Africa.

- Jonathan Pound

THE SEVERE food insecurity situation that is afflicting several countries in Africa is unprecedented in terms of magnitude, severity and multifaceted causes. While early warning systems, which have been augmented in recent years by a proliferation of remote sensing analysis, have become increasingly efficient in forewarning about droughts and proposing actions to mitigate their impact, conflict has become a key driver of severe food insecurity in Africa, particularly in north-eastern Nigeria, South Sudan and Somalia.

In 2016 and 2017, while intra-country conflicts were the main catalyst that put populations at risk or in famine conditions, it was also an amalgam of elements, including droughts, record high food prices and economic downturns, which combined to push millions of people into food insecurity across the continent, and concurrently eroded capacities of households and governments to respond effectively.

In aggregate, nearly 3 million people are estimated to be severely food-insecure and at risk of famine in north-eastern Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan where famine has already been declared. Conflict acutely impinges on households’ productive capacity, physically denying access to agricultural land and inputs, while the persistent threat of violence can negatively affect farmers’ planting decisions. It also adversely impacts pastoralists’ livelihoods, significantly restricting mobility, which is critical for sustainable natural resource management.

People pushed to the brink