Editing Famine (section)

===21st century===
{{See also|COVID-19 pandemic-related famines|2022–2023 food crises}}

Until 2017, worldwide deaths from famine had been falling dramatically. The [[World Peace Foundation]] reported that from the 1870s to the 1970s, great famines killed an average of 928,000 people a year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sites.tufts.edu/wpf/famine/|title=Famine Trends Dataset, Tables and Graphs – World Peace Foundation|website=sites.tufts.edu|date=14 April 2017|language=en-US|access-date=15 October 2017|archive-date=11 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611135749/https://sites.tufts.edu/wpf/famine/|url-status=live}}</ref> Since 1980, annual deaths had dropped to an average of 75,000, less than 10% of what they had been until the 1970s. That reduction was achieved despite the approximately 150,000 lives lost in the [[2011 East Africa drought|2011 Somalia famine]]. Yet in 2017, the UN officially declared famine had returned to Africa, with about 20 million people at risk of death from starvation in the northern part of Nigeria, in [[2017 South Sudan famine|South Sudan]], in [[Famine in Yemen|Yemen]], and in [[2017 Somalian drought|Somalia]].<ref name = "democracyFT"/>

On 20 April 2021, hundreds of aid organizations from around the world wrote an open letter to [[The Guardian]] newspaper, warning that millions of people in [[Yemen]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Ethiopia]], [[South Sudan]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Honduras]], [[Venezuela]], [[Nigeria]], [[Haiti]], [[Central African Republic]], [[Uganda]], [[Zimbabwe]] and [[Sudan]] faced starvation. Organizations including the International Council of Voluntary Agencies and the [[World Food Programme]] said: "Girls and boys, men and women, are being starved by conflict and violence; by inequality; by the impacts of climate change; by the loss of land, jobs of prospects; by a fight against Covid-19 that has left them even further behind". The groups warned that funding had dwindled, while money alone would not be enough by itself. Governments should step in to end conflicts and ensure humanitarian access, they said. "If no action is taken, lives will be lost. The responsibility to address this lies with states", they added.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/apr/20/millions-at-risk-of-famine-without-urgent-help-governments-warned|title='People are not starving, they're being starved': millions at risk of famine, NGOs warn|last=Johnson|first=Sarah|date=20 April 2021|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=28 April 2021|archive-date=27 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427191453/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/apr/20/millions-at-risk-of-famine-without-urgent-help-governments-warned|url-status=live}}</ref>

In November 2021, the [[World Food Programme]] reported that 45 million people were "teetering on the very edge of famine" in 43 countries and that the slightest shock would push them over the precipice. This number had risen from 42 million earlier in 2021, and from 27 million in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title=45 million people 'teetering on the edge of famine' globally – WFP |url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/494205-45-million-people-teetering-on-the-edge-of-famine-globally-wfp.html |access-date=25 November 2021 |work=[[Premium Times]] |date=8 November 2021 |archive-date=25 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125111924/https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/494205-45-million-people-teetering-on-the-edge-of-famine-globally-wfp.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The slightest shock — be it extreme weather linked to climate change, conflict, or the deadly interplay of both hunger drivers — could push tens of millions of people into irreversible peril, a prospect the agency had been warning of for more than a year. [[Afghanistan]] was becoming the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with the country's needs surpassing those of the other worst-hit countries — [[Ethiopia]], [[South Sudan]], [[Syria]] and even [[Yemen]].<ref>{{cite news |title=45 million people at risk of famine require urgent intervention. |url=https://www.wfp.org/stories/42-million-people-are-knocking-famines-door-and-us66-billion-could-save-them-now-0 |access-date=25 November 2021 |publisher=World Food Programme |date=8 November 2021 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308184623/https://www.wfp.org/stories/42-million-people-are-knocking-famines-door-and-us66-billion-could-save-them-now-0 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In August 2024, [[2024 famine in Sudan|famine]] was declared in Sudan,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Famine confirmed in Sudan's North Darfur, confirming UN agencies worst fears |url=https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/famine-confirmed-sudans-north-darfur-confirming-un-agencies-worst-fears |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250103010921/https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/famine-confirmed-sudans-north-darfur-confirming-un-agencies-worst-fears |archive-date=3 January 2025 |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=www.unicef.org |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> where several refugee camps, displaced by the ongoing [[Sudanese civil war (2023–present)|Sudanese civil war]], were found to be facing severe famine conditions. According to the [[Integrated Food Security Phase Classification|IPC]], over 24 million people are facing acute food insecurity, and a phase 5 famine was detected in multiple regions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-24 |title=Sudan's worsening famine: Conflict puts millions at risk {{!}} UN News |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158511 |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=news.un.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sudan: Acute Food Insecurity Situation - Updated Projections and FRC conclusions for October 2024 to May 2025 {{!}} IPC - Integrated Food Security Phase Classification |url=https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1159433/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=www.ipcinfo.org}}</ref> UN experts have accused the [[Sudanese Armed Forces]] (SAF) and the [[Rapid Support Forces]] (RSF) of using ‘starvation tactics’ against the civilians in the country, and have said “Never in modern history have so many people faced starvation and famine as in [[Sudan]] today”.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sudan faces one of the worst famines in decades, warn UN experts |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/10/sudan-faces-one-worst-famines-decades-warn-un-experts |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=OHCHR |language=en}}</ref>