Canada and the G7 can act now to save lives and prevent famine

As the G7 development ministers meet in Berlin on May 18, hundreds of thousands are facing catastrophic hunger in Yemen, South Sudan, and Somalia. The G7 ministers should urgently act to prevent famine and commit to three things: giving more and acting early to meet immediate needs and investing in food security for the long term. Things are not looking good for the 193 million people who faced severe hunger in 2021. The 2022 Global Report on Food Crises estimates that global hunger will either maintain last year’s crisis levels or get worse. Hunger will intensify in northern Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Kenya because of inadequate rains and/or conflict. Parts of Yemen, South Sudan, and Somalia face a worst-case scenario with the risk of famine. What is famine? Famine happens when an extreme deprivation of food is not adequately addressed. It is “always the result of political failures,” according to Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food. Famine means that at least one home in five has an extreme lack of food, and people in the region are already dying from hunger. Thankfully, there have only been two famines in the past decade: 2011 in Somalia and 2017 in South Sudan. In 2022, famine looms large. Global hunger, already at critical levels, will be made worse by economic decline from the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, high costs of food, the increasing expense of delivering food assistance, the recurring Horn of Africa droughts and the challenge of humanitarian access in conflict settings. But G7 countries can turn this devastating tide if they give more, act early, and invest in food security. More funding is an essential first step. The disruption of COVID-19 and now the Russian war in Ukraine has led to reduced global supplies of grain, energy, and fertilizer, increasing the cost of food and food assistance delivery. For example, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank has found that food suppliers in developing countries are unable to honour contracts because food prices have risen so quickly. In some communities the cost of cooking oil and grain has doubled in price since December. Yet, funding for global hunger has not matched the rising cost of food and humanitarian assistance. For the fifth year in a row, more than a hundred thousand people in Yemen face catastrophic hunger. At the recent UN pledging conference for Yemen, donors raised only one-third of what was needed. Without money, it will be impossible to adequately respond to hunger and prevent famine for the women, men, and children in Yemen. Second, the G7 countries need to act early. There are clear warning flags as a region approaches famine, and quick action can pull countries back from the brink. Ignoring early-warning alerts leads to extreme suffering. In 2011, more than a quarter of a million Somalis starved to death because help came too little and too late. The famine alarm bells are ringing loud. In the 2021 Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Crises Compact, the G7 countries committed to scaling up anticipatory action. Now is the time to act to protect food security assets such as livestock, water sources, and crops in anticipation of coming droughts. Horn of Africa countries—including Kenya, South Sudan, and Somalia—have faced recurrent droughts. In northern Kenya, with support of the Foodgrains Bank, communities use pump irrigation to grow nutritious green vegetables, which have significantly improved child nutrition. Before these successful farm projects, mothers were not able to afford the nutritious food they now grow. These food security gains must be protected. Finally, the G7 countries must invest in sustainable food security initiatives. Responding to hunger in humanitarian contexts saves lives now. But what happens to those people after the crisis? We must support nature-based climate solutions so that people who are food insecure can grow nutritious food and keep healthy livestock. This will sustain the lives saved and promote long-term socio-economic wellbeing. The pandemic, and now the war, have underlined the importance of robust local food systems to make sure that nutritious food is readily available and affordable to all. Canada is a leading food assistance donor, consistently partnering to end global hunger. As Canada heads to the G7 ministerial in Berlin, we, and the millions of people facing famine, look to Canada to show continued leadership in famine prevention by encouraging the G7 to give more, act early and invest in long-term food security. Andy Harrington is the executive director of Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The Hill Times