Weaponized Starvation: A Dangerous Trend in an Increasingly Hungry World

Countries and militant groups routinely starve civilian populations to achieve their goals. Recent trends indicate this practice could become even more widespread.

Palestinians await scarce rations in Rafah on February 16. Image source

Marwa Talbani is a 32-year-old mother living in a makeshift tent city in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Food is increasingly scarce in Rafah, whose population swelled from 280,000 people before the war to over 1.5 million at present, as Israel regularly blocks aid to the besieged enclave. "I have to tell my kids every day that we can't buy this or that food… I give them a few tomatoes just so they have something to eat," said Talbani when interviewed by Al-Jazeera. "You can hear it in the tents around us, children crying because they're hungry. This is a war of hunger," she continued.

On March 18, a coalition of aid groups that includes the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report claiming that 1.1 million people – half of Gaza's population – now face famine. The same day, EU policy chief Josep Borell accused Israel of deliberately provoking a famine in Gaza and using starvation as a "weapon of war." On March 29, the U.S. State Department claimed that famine was probably present in at least some areas of northern Gaza and that other areas risk falling into conditions for starvation.

Although the weaponization of food is nothing new to warfare, several international legal conventions prohibit the tactic. Critics argue that Israel's violation of these conventions not only constitutes a series of war crimes. It may also further a growing precedent among powerful Western-backed militaries. Another recent example of this is the Saudi-led coalition's blocking of aid and essential goods to the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, which is the single largest contributor to the country's civil war death toll, which now sits at an estimated 377,000 people. These instances of military-induced starvation paint a grim picture of what could become commonplace in an increasingly conflict-prone and food-insecure world.

The southern Gaza town of Rafah’s population has surged to over 1.5 million residents, most of whom live in tents with no electricity or sanitation and little access to food and water. Image source

An ancient tactic in an increasingly lawless world

Food weaponization is one of warfare's oldest tactics. Throughout history, invading armies besieged military outposts and whole cities, starving them until submission. Given that the oldest discovered city walls existed in Jericho over 10,000 years ago and that defensive walls were fixtures in neolithic sights worldwide, it is safe to assume the cutting off food supplies in a siege scenario is at least as old. Despite a series of legal norms adopted over the past century to curb the weaponization of hunger, this tactic remains commonplace today, especially among countries and militant groups that are unconcerned with upholding international law.

During the Syrian Civil War, forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad practiced a "kneel and starve" strategy that aimed to force opposition-held enclaves into submission by encircling them militarily by denying them food shipments while attacking food production sites such as bakeries. Such incidents reportedly occurred in over 40 cities across Syria, including in the suburbs of major cities such as Damascus, Homs, and Aleppo. According to Starvation Watch, "pervasive impunity still characterizes the Syrian conflict" – meaning legal prosecution is unlikely. In 2022, Azerbaijani forces deprived the former Armenian exclave of Nagorno Karabakh of food and other essential supplies by imposing a nine-month blockade, forcing most of the population to flee. Although legal experts claim this constitutes a war crime, it is unlikely that any Azerbaijani officials will be prosecuted. Similarly, in Ukraine, Russian forces regularly besiege local populations, and the World Food Programme estimates that one in three Ukrainian families are food insecure.

Africa has many unfortunate examples of food weaponization, including in recent history. In Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) rebel group seized much of the country's agricultural heartland last year, causing output to halt and putting some 18 million people at high risk of food insecurity. The RSF also reportedly seizes aid shipments to the country. In South Sudan, a 2022 investigation found that government forces, allied militias, and opposition groups regularly deny food to civilian populations by burning crops, destroying markets, and other tactics. In Ethiopia, Ethiopian and Eritrean forces stand accused of blocking food shipments, stopping farmers from plowing or harvesting their fields, and even stealing seeds during the 2020–2022 Tigray War. In Mali, jihadist groups regularly try to create a food crisis by blocking farmers and ranchers from accessing their lands, while in Somalia, al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab controls much of the country's most fertile lands, putting much of the country at risk of famine. 

International attempts to stop the use of food as a weapon of war have produced limited results. In 2018, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2417, which prohibits the use of starvation as a weapon of war; however, such incidents remain increasingly prevalent. Last August, a U.S. issued a communique pledging to condemn the use of food as a tool of war was signed by less than half of all UN member states. Ironically, Israel is a signatory. The 102 countries that refused to sign included Russia, China, and most African states. Although some countries may have abstained due to their reluctance to sign a communique penned by the U.S., their refusal is also likely a sign that they view the weaponization of hunger as a legitimate tool of war. For this reason, the weaponization of hunger will likely continue to be pervasive worldwide. 

Somalia’s al-Shabaab has seized much of the country’s most productive farmland, putting millions at risk of food shortages. Image source

A 2022 UN report found that two thirds of South Sudan is badly food insecure. Image source

Dangerous circumstances

Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine caused global grain prices to spike, particularly in those places most dependent on Ukrainian wheat, such as Pakistan and much of Africa and the Middle East. Ukraine is one of the most important food-producing regions on earth, with over 70% of the country's landmass – roughly the size of California – being prime agricultural land. The Russian invasion has caused Ukrainian grain exports to fall by roughly two-thirds as neighboring countries struggle to handle Ukrainian products logistically. Although the UN, Turkey, and Russia agreed to the Black Sea Grain Initiative that allowed for the export of Ukrainian grain by sea in July 2022, Russia exited the deal last July, effectively bringing it to an end. The deal's breakdown rattled the global grain market, with globally available wheat inventories falling dramatically as a result.

Although traders expect global grain inventories to rise this year due to rising production in Brazil, Russia, and the U.S., the situation is far from stable, as it is impossible to know what the coming year will bring as the war rages on. Sanctions on Russia combined with supply chain disruptions and a shifting natural gas market in Europe have also resulted in fertilizer shortages, and experts regularly warn of an emerging topsoil crisis. NASA also predicts that climate change could have a significant impact on global agricultural yields by as soon as 2030. These factors, combined with aging farmers and encroaching government restrictions in essential food-producing countries in the Americas and Europe, do not bode well for global food security.

Wherever and whenever the next food crisis emerges, governments and militant groups will likely capitalize upon it. With little standing in their way and powerful precedents set by Western-backed militaries in recent years, hunger could be further weaponized as a tool of conflict with potentially disastrous consequences. As with most things in war, it is society's most vulnerable -children, the elderly, the infirm, and the poor – who will most likely bear the worst of these consequences.

The Port of Odessa, Ukraine. The ongoing war has dramatically reduced grain shipments from one of the world’s essential breadbaskets. Image source

Conclusion

Although a war crime, the weaponization of hunger occurs frequently in global conflict and with near total impunity. With global food supplies now threatened by myriad factors and powerful militaries and ragtag militant groups alike using hunger as a weapon to achieve their goals, the world stands on the edge of a hunger crisis like no other. The only thing left is to hope that, in our increasingly disunited world, governments and institutions come together to curb this horrific practice before it is too late.