The worst years of the Spanish post-war constituted a veritable famine during which the purchasing power of the population fell drastically and thousands of deaths from starvation were recorded.
Parties to the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region have agreed to end hostilities after two years. Here is a selection of previously published articles on its devastating consequences.
A woman at a camp for those displaced by drought in Baidoa, Somalia, in September 2022.
Ed Ram/Getty Images
The UN predicts more than 300,000 people in Somalia will be in famine by December. 7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. Here’s how you can help.
Stalagmites grow from the cave floor up as water drips down.
Gayatri Kathayat
As water dripped in a remote cave, it left behind evidence of every monsoon season for a millennium. Scientists say it holds a warning for a country about to become the most populous on Earth.
Habiba Hassan Leesow, who had to leave her home due to drought, sits outside her tent with her daughter Najima Barre in a displacement camp.
Photo by Ed Ram/Getty Images
Many wildlife species face an uncertain future due to recurring, severe drought.
A man sits next to dead livestock in the village of Hargududo, Ethiopia, where there’s hardly been a drop of rain in 18 months.
Eduardo Soteras/AFP via Getty Images
The ongoing humanitarian crisis raises serious questions about future food and water security in the Horn of Africa.
After being displaced by drought, nearly 300 people, mostly women, and children arrived at Qansahley camp in Dollow, Jubaland, Somalia.
Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Countries have used starvation as a war strategy for centuries, historically without being prosecuted. Three experts on hunger and humanitarian relief call for holding perpetrators accountable.
A Ukrainain boy sits in a swing at a playground outside a building destroyed during attacks in Irpin, Ukraine, on the outskirts of Kyiv, in May 2022.
(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Ukraine is facing a struggle for survival. Its population could fall to 30 million by the time the war ends, with cities destroyed, crops expropriated and thousands already killed and wounded.
Ukraine’s sea port of Mariupol, blockaded and now fallen to Russian forces.
Getty Images
Ukraine is one of the world’s breadbaskets, but exports have been blockaded by Russia. Despite grave potential consequences in famine-prone countries, international law is largely silent.
Distributing flour rations and other food supplies in southern Yemen on March 29, 2022.
Saleh Al-Obeidi/AFP via Getty Images
Grain and fertilizer shortages, higher shipping costs and a strong dollar are all pushing food prices up and increasing hunger in dozens of vulnerable countries.
A wheat warehouse in western Ukraine. Food insecurity is expected to worsen with rising food prices and the war trapping wheat, barley and corn in Ukraine and Russia.
(AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Research Fellow, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations University