Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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Oppressive Regimes, Military Conflict and Hunger
Military conflicts disrupt food production and distribution. Moreover increased global military spending diverts spending from social and economic development. Oppressive regimes and corruption can also cause hunger, by draining scarce funds away from those most in need.
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World Hunger
Articles and Documents
2007 |2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 1998 2007
Cote d'Ivoire: Crisis Sheds Light on Chronic Malnutrition (July 9, 2007)
The current conflict in Cote d’Ivoire has exposed a problem which long existed in the region - malnutrition. In 2002, the rebels cut off the northern part of the country from the southern part, worsening the conditions of the people and causing today’s hunger crisis. Before the 2002 rebellion, few NGOs existed in the region but as the conflict spread numerous aid organizations came to treat malnutrition and raise awareness on this issue. (Integrated Regional Information Network)Now It Is Lack of Food Security (February 19, 2007)
Despite all its agricultural resources, Iraq is facing a collapse in food supplies. According to a report by the International Organization of Migration, 1.5 million internally displaced people in the country lack adequate food. Local and international food aid delivered to Iraq has diminished after kidnappings of activists in the country. Further, most of the local farmers are unable to get their food to the markets due to security reasons and many of them went bankrupt after the US administration decreased the tariffs on imported products. Nevertheless, foreign companies supply Iraqis with poor quality food, which now, due to inflation, is very expensive. (Inter Press Service)2006
World’s Hungry Swell to 852 Million Despite Promises to Eradicate Hunger: UN Expert (October 26, 2006)
The number of hungry across the world continues to increase, reports UN News. UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler blames the rising hunger levels on degraded lands, “massive underfunding” of UN feeding programs, and EU and US agricultural subsidizing and dumping. With 80 percent of the world’s hungry living in the countryside, governments and UN agencies must invest in small-scale agriculture and irrigation, Ziegler argues. He further highlights that people must have “access to justice” when their right to food is violated, and recommends that “Israel be held responsible under international law” for the extensive damage that its bombings did to Lebanese livelihoods.Global Military Spending Set to Top Cold War High as Conflict Causes Record Hunger (September 22, 2006)
Global military spending will break Cold War records by the end of 2006, reaching US$1,059 billion, warns Oxfam. While the world spends more on weapons, military conflict has become a leading cause of hunger, triggering a growing number of food crises. Ongoing conflicts in Africa, Afghanistan and Gaza hamper relief efforts, leaving people without enough food. Aid money would better serve peaceful development rather than “dealing with the humanitarian fall-out of wars,” says Oxfam’s campaign director.A World Addicted to Hunger: Part 1 (May 3, 2006)
850 million people suffer from chronic hunger and five to six million have lost the capacity to produce or buy enough food, even under normal weather and market conditions. As most poor countries actually produce enough food to feed all of their people, Inter Press Service sees unequal distribution and limited physical and economic access to food as the main causes of famines. Furthermore, man-made crises, such as wars, have more than doubled the number of famines since 1992.A World Addicted to Hunger: Part 2 (May 3, 2006)
In this article, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) make clear that, thanks to highly developed early warning systems, rich governments can prevent most famines. However, donor countries seldom prioritize “preventability” and hesitate to give money until the press shows pictures of ongoing humanitarian crises. Inter Press Service also points out differencing opinions between the FAO and the WFP on the impact of direct food shipments to starving people.2005
"Protect Regime Now, Feed People Later" (October 18, 2005)
North Korean citizens are experiencing a chronic food shortage. Although dependent on international food assistance, the regime has asked Western donors and international relief agencies to leave the country by the end of the year. Instead, the North Korean leader seeks a stronger alliance with China and South Korea. Through this strategy, Kim Jong-il seeks to avoid any “strict monitoring” by international observers that might threaten his regime. (YaleGlobal)Zimbabwe: Food Running Out and No Help in Sight (September 21, 2005)
In Zimbabwe, poverty and underdevelopment coexist with an oppressive and undemocratic government. Many Zimbabweans face a desperate food shortage, but President Robert G. Mugabe has not yet given the go-ahead to the United Nations for an international appeal. In a country lacking in both agricultural and financial sources, the author warns that “disaster [..] is almost guaranteed.” (Zimbabwean)Armed Conflicts Leading Cause of World Hunger Emergencies (May 23, 2005)
According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), armed conflicts are the leading cause of world hunger, responsible for “more than 35 percent of food emergencies between 1992 and 2003.” The FAO presented the report to the Committee on World Food Security, warning that food emergencies are increasingly becoming human-made. The report recognizes that peace is "a public good and an essential condition for attaining the Millennium Development Goals." (Food and Agriculture Organization)2004
Breaking the Links Between Conflict and Hunger (October 2004)
This International Food Policy Research Institute report reveals how food insecurity operates as both cause and effect in African conflicts, where adversaries often use hunger as a strategic weapon. The international community must play a crucial role in preventing such conflict outbreaks by adopting fair trade policies, implementing debt relief programs and by pressuring African governments to adopt food programs instead of purchasing weapons.Children Pay Cost of Iraq's Chaos: Malnutrition Nearly Double What It Was Before Invasion (November 21, 2004 )
Surveys by the United Nations, the interim Iraqi government and aid agencies report that malnutrition among children in Iraq have almost doubled since the start of the US-led invasion 20 months ago. Iraq’s malnutrition rate roughly equals that of Burundi and is far higher than rates in Uganda and Haiti. (Washington Post)Rural Communities in Darfur Facing Food Crisis (October 19, 2004)
The International Committee of the Red Cross reports that violence and looting together with recurring droughts have created food shortages which could repeat the famines that hit the region of Darfur in the 1980s and 1990s. The United Nations says the Darfur conflict has caused "the world's worst humanitarian crisis." (Integrated Regional Information Networks)A Bounty of Food Relief Sits Unused in Zimbabwe: Claim of Bumper Crop Ties Aid Groups' Hands (July 20, 2004)
The World Food Program, "which operates only at government request," cannot distribute sustenance to the starving people of Zimbabwe, due to President Mugabe's refusal of the assistance. Noting rampant poverty, NGO and UN officials are skeptical of Mugabe's motives. In previous elections, he has withheld food, to create popular desperation, then "bought" political support by exchanging provisions for votes. (Washington Post)Huge Numbers Facing Food Shortages Amid Violence in Northern Uganda (May 13, 2004)
Ken Davies, World Food Programme Uganda Country Director, explains that the people of Northern Uganda “are suffering on a massive, shameful scale,” threatened by both continuing attacks and the exhaustion of food supplies. Aid workers in the country are struggling to get food to the most vulnerable people and convoys need armed escorts.No Famine Here, Says Hungry Zimbabwe (May 12, 2004)
Five million people face famine in Zimbabwe despite the government’s claims that it has enough food to feed its population and thus not seek food aid this year. Aid workers argue that this is an attempt by the ruling Zanu-PF government to secure full control over food supplies, which they use as a powerful political tool - giving supplies only to loyal supporters. (London Telegraph)After the War, the Food Crisis (May 4, 2004)
Executive Director of the UN World Food Program, James Morris, has warned that a severe food crisis is further complicating the situation in Darfur, threatening the lives of a considerable number of refugees. Morris has also expressed concerns over the disappearance and kidnapping of many children, which is creating a new humanitarian problem. (Inter Press Service)"Only Peace Can End Food Crisis", Top WFP Official Says (March 12, 2004)
Armed militia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo routinely hinder the efforts of the World Food Programme to provide humanitarian assistance to the “hundreds of thousands” of people plagued by severe food shortages and malnutrition. (IRIN)World Hunger in the Rise (January 20, 2004)
The UN World Food Programme delivered food aid to 110 million people in 2003 while the number of hungry people worldwide rose to 800 million. James Morris, head of the WFP blames this increase on the large number of conflicts in the world, specifically in Africa. (Radio Netherlands)Famine Poses a New Threat (January 8, 2004)
After 14 years of civil war, thousands of Liberians face a new threat: Famine. In search of security, many Liberians abandoned their farmlands and now live in displaced persons' camps suffering from severe food shortages. (Inter Press Service)2003
Land of Plenty, Lives of Desperation (November 2, 2003)
Most of the 3.5 million victims of the Congo War did not die of combat, but of hunger, says the Washington Post. Congo is a land of abundant rainfall and rich soil, yet rebels still make 70 percent of eastern Congo too insecure for farming. The country’s colonial legacy compounds the food problem. Giving up farming to work in colonial mining operations, the Congolese lost their traditional farming knowledge.Government Directive Could Hamper Relief Efforts (August 20, 2003)
Relief agencies in Zimbabwe worry about a government directive that will empower local government authorities to decide on the distribution of international food aid. The NGOs accuse the government of using access to food as a political weapon against opposition supporters. (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks)Peace: The Real Solution to Famine in North Korea (July 23, 2003)
Christine Ahn argues that five decades of suspended war between the US and North Korea, as well as US-led sanctions against the country, keep North Korea mired in poverty. (ZNet)Arms and the Taxman (July 1, 2003 )
A tax on the multi-billion dollar global arms trade could fund the fight against world hunger and steer poor countries away from buying weapons, but the rich countries selling the arms remain uninterested. (Guardian)War on Iraq Threatens UN Poverty Goals (April 4, 2003)
Eveline Herfkens, the UN's executive coordinator for the Millennium Development Goals, warns that the US-led war on Iraq may jeopardize UN goals to reduce poverty by 2015. Funds that could have been used to fight poverty and AIDS will be diverted to military and post-war construction projects. (Inter Press Service)Uganda: UN Says Food Shortage and Security in the North Likely to Worsen (February 13, 2003)
The UN has launched a consolidated inter-agency appeal for US $89 million to avert the humanitarian disaster in Uganda. Fighting between the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and Government forces has caused a dire food shortage which the UN is unable to prevent with its meager funds. (Integrated Regional Information Networks)2002
Hunger As Political Tool (December 13, 2002)
The United Nations suspended its operations in Insiza, Zimbabwe in October to protest President Robert Mugabe’s use of food aid as a weapon against opposition supporters in the midst of a famine. Pro-government militants raided UN food aid distribution centers, providing grain only to Mugabe’s supporters. (New York Times)How One Country Created Its Own Food Crisis (November 12, 2002)
Zimbabwe has survived severe drought in the past without collapsing into a food crisis. However, President Mugabe’s corrupt policies, including redistributing land only to wealthy elite with no interest in farming and channeling food aid only to his supporters, have put poor Zimbabwean people at risk of starvation. (Christian Science Monitor)Why Half the Planet Is Hungry (June 16, 2002)
The world's leading expert on the causes of famine, Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, answers crucial questions on why people starve when democracy falters. (Observer)1998
World Hunger: Avoidable, Curable? (1998)
The authors destroy myths about the benevolence of aid, particularly food aid and grants, and their impact on poverty eradication. Following Nobel laureate Sen, they emphasize that democracy is the best defense against hunger. (FoodFirst)
