Women and children line up to receive food aid in Baidoa, Somalia, Oct. 12, 2022 (VOA)
We are seeing an intersection of events that appear to be leading to a devastating global famine.
The locust outbreak that began in 2019 coupled with an advancing global drought that continued to worsen year-by-year. With the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, we then experienced economic shutdown, degraded productivity, bankruptcies, skyrocketing prices and a severely curtailed supply chain. In 2021, in response to this intersection of events, the U.N. began sounding the alarm about potential starvation, especially in the poorest countries around the world. By 2022 rising inflation, the threat of recession and escalating energy prices were then met by a war in the Ukraine to put even more pressure on the world. Additionally in 2022 we saw devastating floods in Pakistan that affected 33 million people, with World Bank estimating damage and economic loss at over $30 Billion (Press Release SAR/2022).
The impact of global drought, locusts’ plagues, pandemic, war, economic uncertainty and other natural disasters have combined to contribute to fears of global famine and starvation.
Here are just a few statistics from 2021 to 2022:
2021
- The hunger rate in South Africa doubled from 2008 to 2020– growing from 1.8 million to 2.8 million people facing food shortages. In 2021 South Africa experienced riots that exasperated the food situation. (Givetash).
- In a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in November 2021, it was stated that hunger in Latin America rose by 13.8 million in one year and that “Latin America and the Caribbean is facing a critical situation in terms of food security” (FAO).
- In 2021, Madagascar suffered “the worst hunger situation in two generations” (Garmirian). The famine in Madagascar is attributed to the locust plague and corresponding devastation of crops (Africanews).
- The highest risk countries for starvation as of September 2021 were Ethiopia, South Sudan, Yemen, and Nigeria. Also at risk are Haiti, Central America, the Caribbean, and East & Southern Africa (Acute Food Insecurity: Near Term (July – September 2021)).
- By December of 2021 in Afghanistan, it was reported that an estimated 22.8 million people were facing critical levels of food insecurity (James).
- In November of 2021, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned that the number of people living on the “edge of famine” had risen to 45 million people across 43 countries—this was up from 42 million earlier in the year and 27 million as of 2019 (WFP).
- As 2021 drew to a close, reports appeared that China was hoarding over half the world’s grain. The U.S. Department of Agriculture projected China as having 69% of the world’s maize reserves, 60% of its rice and 51% of its wheat in the first half of 2022—potentially allowing them to meet internal demand for 1.5 years; but this has also added to global food insecurity and increased pressure on global food prices (Watanabe).
2022
The Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) Mid-Year Update for 2022 showed an increase from 2021. The data in the mid-year report shows “an increase of up to 29.5 million people between 2021 and 2022” (note that sample size increased as well) (FSIN).
In 2022, the war in the Ukraine resulted in greatly diminished and higher cost fertilizer exports from Russia, leading to significant concerns regarding agricultural yields around the world. At least one article pointed to this development as a primary factor for the “greatest famine in history” occurring in 2023 (Armenia News). In addition, the Ukraine is known as one of the worlds breadbaskets, and in July Ukraine President Zelensky warned that the war might lead to the country’s harvest for 2022 being cut in half (Zelensky).
The ‘FAO‑WFP Early Warnings on Acute Food Insecurity: October 2022 to January 2023 Outlook’ projected a further deterioration in 19 ‘hotspot’ countries. This is taken directly from the Executive Summary:
- Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen remain at the highest alert level, as they all have populations facing or projected to face starvation (Catastrophe, IPC Phase 5) or at risk of deterioration towards catastrophic conditions as they have already critical food insecurity (Emergency, IPC Phase 4) and are facing severe aggravating factors.
- In Afghanistan, the severity of food insecurity suggests that significant loss of life may already be occurring in the outlook period, as nearly 6 million people are expected to be in Emergency conditions (IPC Phase 4) by November.
- In southern and eastern Ethiopia, a fifth consecutive failed rainy season will be aggravating the most severe drought in recent history, further compromising the fragile livelihoods of almost 10 million people already acutely food insecure. Overall, in 2022, 20.4 million people were estimated to be acutely food insecure and in need of urgent assistance; this included more than 13 million food‑insecure people in northern Ethiopia.
- Record‑high acute food insecurity in Nigeria, projected at 19.5 million people in Crisis or worse (CH Phase 3 and above) up to August, is likely to persist during the outlook period, despite the end of the lean season.
- In Somalia, a likely fifth below‑average rainy season, combined with high food prices and persistent conflict, is rapidly driving an extreme deprivation of food;
- In South Sudan, a fourth‑consecutive year of flooding is a major concern because most people estimated to face starvation (IPC Phase 5) are located in the flood‑prone areas, in counties in Jonglei, Lakes and Unity states, and Greater Pibor.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, the Sahel region, the Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic remain of very high concern, as in the previous edition of this report. In this edition, the alert is extended to the Central African Republic and Pakistan.
In September 2022, David Beasley, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program, stated that we are facing “a perfect storm on top of a perfect storm” regarding hunger. He noted that 80 million people were headed toward starvation when he took over 5 ½ years ago, but now that number has reached 345 million in 2022. Beasley also stated that within that number are 50 million people in 45 countries “knocking on famine’s door” (Associated Press). He also raised the alarm earlier in the year regarding the fertilizer crisis, stating that “the global food crisis stands to get even worse in 2023 because of possible reductions in farm production due to shortages of affordable fertilizer” (Brasher).
In November 2022, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a “raging food catastrophe” and that “people in five separate places are facing famine” (Guterres).
“We are on the way to a raging food catastrophe, and the world appears to be indifferent.”
Antonio Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations 11/15/2022 Twitter
The WFP described 2022 as “a year of unprecedented hunger” and stated that “the world is facing a food crisis of unprecedented proportions, the largest in modern history” and that as many as “828 million people go to bed hungry every night” (WFP).
In December 2022, the Red Cross warned that they expected “enormous suffering” in 2023 as projections showed famine spreading.
As 2023 commenced, famine in North Korea was stated as a worse crisis than that of the 1990s, that killed three million people. Smuggled out accounts detail people starving to death in that isolated, closed country.
By March 2023 one WHO worker warned that the Horn of Africa was facing a situation “worse than anything she’d seen” in over two decades.
The threat of famine becoming a global catastrophe continues to grow.
Since 2019 we have seen a perfect storm of events that have set the world on a path towards pandemic levels of famine and hunger. It is possible that the coming scenario will see the world simply unable to respond with enough humanitarian aid to avoid this disaster, resulting in a catastrophic loss of life on a global scale.
As we see this new crisis unfold, we must consider how the Bible describes famine, as often we see this within the context of God’s judgement.
Video: It’s Worse Than They Are Telling You. Hundreds of Millions will starve.
David – upon observing year after year of famine – received word from the Lord that this was because of the bloodthirsty actions of the house of King Saul (2 Samuel 2). Elisha states that in his day God called for a famine of seven years (2 Kings 8). In Jeremiah we see that false prophets are told they will die by sword and famine (Jeremiah 14). When in pride King David conducted a census, God gave him a choice of punishment for his sin, that included “three years of famine” (1 Chronicles 21:12).
Today we see a perfect storm of intersectional events in the world – ranging from economic hardships brought on by Covid-19 to worldwide drought and global locust plagues. Emerging from this period without the loss of millions of lives to famine appears to be growing more and more less likely.
The Bible gives us instruction about how we are to respond in the presence of drought, locusts, famine and pestilence – we are to repent and turn from our current path:
2 Chronicles 7:13-14: When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Unfortunately, in the myriad of reports about global drought, locusts, and famine – or any other significant weather event – the overriding theme is that all our problems are occurring because of mankind’s impact to the environment. Over and over again, we lay our problems at the feet of climate change, as we exchange worship of the creator for worship of the creation. Rarely do we see any indication of humility, repentance, or acknowledgement of sin in the face of God.
As we consider the nature of the times within which we live, and look with great concern to so many parts of the world facing famine, it is of note that we find an important word stated explicitly in Revelation 6:8—and that word is hunger.
Next – Chapter 13: The Sword, Famine & Pestilence
