Global Famines: It’s More than Just Gaza

Written By: John Martello

While much news coverage is centered around the escalating famine conditions in Gaza, there are seemingly a few global hotspots that are experiencing similar conditions. What does famine mean? How does famine occur? And what are its implications on a global scale?

Famine, according to Action Against Hunger, is the “extremest shortage of food and several children and adults within a certain area are dying of hunger on a daily basis.” The shortage of food can be caused by numerous factors: climate change, military conflicts, displacement, poverty, or political and economic instability. Historically, famines are prolonged by governmental policies or actions. Simply put, a majority of famines are man-made. In the 1930s, Stalin’s harsh policy of collectivization and high farm quotas forced Ukraine into a famine that caused the deaths of up to 10 million. In the same vein, Mao Zedong pushed China into a famine as a result of his Great Leap Forward, killing an estimated 30 million people. 

Currently, the international community relies on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) for designations regarding food insecurity. The IPC is made up of 21 different organizations and institutions, including the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization. This global effort monitors and determines food insecurity. 

Fig. 1, IPC Phase Classifications https://www.ipcinfo.org/famine-facts/ 

The IPC has 5 Phases to categorize food insecurity: None, Stressed, Crisis, Emergency, and Catastrophe/Famine. Phase 3 (Crisis) can be defined as when households have a lack of food and can meet minimum needs through selling financial or personal assets. Phase 4 (Emergency) builds upon the Crisis by including large food consumption gaps and mortality, employing emergency measures to increase food intake. Phase 5 (Catastrophe/Famine) is characterized by death, destitution, and an extreme lack of food. 

According to the IPC, there are 5 countries in Phase 5: Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Haiti, and Gaza. All 5 of these countries are teetering in this phase due to similar conditions: violence and conflict, displacement, climate, and a breakdown in essential services. Four times as many countries fall into Phase 4, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Yemen, and Afghanistan. 

The recognition of famine tends to be a contested issue. Labels cause outrage; however, labels create a strong push for aid. Famine has already been declared in the Zamzam camp in Sudan. Just recently, US President Donald Trump acknowledged the conditions in Gaza, stating that “we have to get the kids fed.” This bypasses the reports and statements from the Israeli government and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who constantly pushes that there is “no starvation in Gaza.” As of publication, famine in Gaza has not been declared by the IPC. 

On a global scale, there were 757 million people affected by chronic hunger in 2023, according to Oxfam. Similar data from Oxfam also suggests that between 8,000 to 23,000 people die each day from hunger. How can we combat this?

The simple way is to support the institutions and organizations that provide aid to combat world hunger. There is no shortage of involved private and public organizations: Rise Against Hunger, The Hunger Project, the World Food Programme, or the International Fund for Agricultural Development. We can use our collective action to help strive towards ending world hunger, no matter how small that action may be. 

Works Cited

Action Against Hunger. “What is Famine?” Accessed July 31, 2025. https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/the-hunger-crisis/world-hunger-facts/what-is-famine/.

Brown, Clayton. “China’s Great Leap Forward.” Association for Asian Studies. Accessed July 31, 2025. https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/chinas-great-leap-forward/. 

Da Silva, Chantal. “Trump Says There is ‘Real Starvation’ in Gaza and U.S. Will Set Up Food Centers.” NBC News. July 28, 2025. https://www.nbcnews.com/world/gaza/israel-aid-gaza-starvation-food-military-pauses-rcna221415.

Dowdell, Jaimi, Lena Masri, Giulia Paravicini, Ryan McNeill, and Nafisa Eltahir. “Halt in US Aid Cripples Global Efforts to Relieve Hunger.” Reuters. February 7, 2025. 

https://www.reuters.com/world/halt-us-aid-cripples-global-efforts-relieve-hunger. 

Ebrahim, Nadeen. “‘Worst-Case Scenario of Famine’ is Unfolding in Gaza, UN-Backed Food Security Initiative Says.” CNN. July 29, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/29/middleeast/famine-is-unfolding-in-gaza-un-backed-food-security-initiative-says-intl.

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. “IPC Overview and Classification System.” IPC. Accessed July 31, 2025. https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/ipc-overview-and-classification-system/en/. 

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. “IPC Famine Fact Sheet.” IPC. Accessed July 31, 2025. https://www.ipcinfo.org/famine-facts/. 

Lambert, Jonathan. “Study: 14 Million Lives Could be Lost Due to Trump Aid Cuts.” NPR. July 1, 2025. https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/07/01/nx-s1-5452513/trump-usaid-foreign-aid-deaths. 

Markevich, Andrei, Natalya Naumenko, and Nancy Qian. “Why Did So Many Ukrainians Die in the Soviet Great Famine?” Kellogg Insight. October 1, 2022. https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/ukraine-famine-holodomor-causes.

World Food Programme. “A Global Food Crisis.” World Food Programme. Accessed July 31, 2025.https://www.wfp.org/global-hunger-crisis.