Global conflicts driving up to 21,000 deaths daily from hunger: Oxfam

Most food crises are ‘largely manufactured’, charity says in new report published on World Food Day.

Hunger caused by conflicts around the world has reached record high levels, a new report by Oxfam has found, which accuses warring parties of weaponising food and blocking aid.

Between 7,000 to as many as 21,000 people are likely dying each day from hunger in countries affected by conflict, according to the report, published by the United Kingdom-based charity on World Food Day on Wednesday.

Titled Food Wars, it examined 54 countries experiencing conflict, revealing that they account for nearly all of the 281.6 million people facing acute hunger today. Conflict has also been a major driver of forced displacement in these countries, which has now reached a record 117 million people.

Oxfam emphasised that conflict not only fuels hunger, but that warring parties are actively using food as a weapon by targeting food, water and energy infrastructure, as well as blocking food aid.

Palestinians receive food donated by a charity, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip [File: Haitham Imdad/EPA-EFE]

In September, three humanitarian agencies warned of “a starvation crisis of historic proportions” amid Sudan’s civil war, while the proportion of households affected by high levels of acute food insecurity in Gaza has been the largest ever recorded globally since the end of last year.

“As conflict rages around the world, starvation has become a lethal weapon wielded by warring parties against international laws,” said Oxfam’s Emily Farr, who works in the area of food and economic security.

“Today’s food crises are largely manufactured. Nearly half a million people in Gaza – where 83 percent of needed food aid is currently not reaching them – and over three-quarters of a million in Sudan are starving as the devastating effects of wars on food are likely to persist for generations.”

The analysis revealed that the crises of war, displacement and hunger occur in countries heavily reliant on primary product exports. For instance, 95 percent of Sudan’s export earnings come from gold and livestock. Mining operations have led to violent conflicts, forcing people from their homes as the degraded and polluted environments become unliveable.

According to Oxfam, this underscores the failures of peace-building efforts that rely on an economic liberalisation model focused on attracting foreign investment and promoting export-driven economies, which often exacerbates inequality instead.

“Large-scale private investment – both foreign and domestic – has often exacerbated political and economic instability, as investors seize control over land and water, displacing local populations,” Farr said.

Conflict frequently intensifies other crises like climate shocks, economic instability and inequality. Climate-related disasters such as droughts and floods, combined with rising global food prices due to pandemic shutdowns and disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine war, have escalated hunger crises in East and Southern Africa, it said.

Oxfam warned that the global commitment to “zero hunger” by 2030 is becoming increasingly unattainable. It called on the international community, including the United Nations Security Council, to hold accountable those responsible for “starvation crimes” under international law.

“To break the vicious cycle of food insecurity and conflict, global leaders must confront the root causes of conflict: colonial legacies, injustices, human rights abuses and inequalities – rather than offering superficial solutions,” Farr said.