Derek Headey, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Kalle Hirvonen, United Nations University
Food, fuel and fertiliser prices were rising fast even before war broke out. We need to act now to avoid a humanitarian crisis.
The McDonald’s flagship restaurant at Pushkinskaya Square – the first one of the chain, opened in the USSR on Jan. 31, 1990 – in central Moscow on March 13, 2022, McDonald’s last day in Russia.
AFP via Getty Images
Those placing their faith in sanctions to turn Russians against the war in Ukraine know little about the country, its history and people, write two scholars who have studied Russian culture.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, right, signed decrees recognizing the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics on February 21, 2022.
Alexei Nikolsky/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS via Getty Images
Russia sent troops to two Moscow-allied breakaway regions in Ukraine, after President Vladimir Putin recognized the regions’ independence. Five stories provide background to the growing conflict.
Le marché de Djenne au Mali. Des aliments abordables et des marchés sûrs sont importants pour la sécurité alimentaire.
Anthony Pappone/ Contributeur/GettyImages
Ukraine was once known as the breadbasket of Europe, yet it suffered a devastating famine as a result of collectivist plans. That and other Soviet-era grievances have bred resentment toward Russia.
Repression running in the genes?
Jenni Lim/AFP via Getty Images
Kim Jong Un has followed his father and grandfather in ruling by fear. The coronavirus pandemic has made North Korea ever more isolated, while expanded military capabilities make it a growing threat.
A fighter loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
(AP Photo/Ben Curtis
Unless the blockade by Ethiopia is lifted, Tigray will be in a very bad famine situation.
Un pèse-bébé est suspendu à une branche d'arbre lors d'une séance de dépistage de la malnutrition à Ifotaka, dans le sud de Madagascar.
RIJASOLO/AFP via Getty Images
Chris Funk, University of California, Santa Barbara
Out of the last six years in Madagascar, five years have had poor or very bad rainy seasons.
In north Ethiopia, farmers commonly use an ox-drawn single-tined plough called mahrasha.
Photo by: Edwin Remsberg / VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Due to warfare, ploughing and planting was not timely in Tigray. This may lead to a second year with failed crops.
Humanitarian agencies are often thrust into the heart of contentious crises without easy or quick solutions.
The Houthis accused the WFP of giving out expired food assistance. The UN agency delivers monthly rations or money to 10.2 million people of Yemen's 26-million population. EPA-EFE/YAHYA ARHAB
When humanitarian agencies are obliged to stop operations by political decision or because of huge physical insecurity, the poorest and most vulnerable succumb first through starvation and disease.
Yemeni children, who live in a hunger hot spot, wait to get food in June 2021.
Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images
The infrastructure and levels of deprivation in poorer countries have prevented them from benefiting from containment measures as much as richer nations.
A soldier looking over a maize field where Somali farmers are tending a crop in Dollow, northern Somalia.
TONY KARUMBA/AFP/GettyImages
For decades Somalia has been in a near-constant state of food insecurity. This is due to a combination of stagnant crop production, a rapidly increasing population and political unrest.
The famine in Samaria was one of many depicted in the Bible.
PHAS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The federal government needs to address the relationship between climate-related realities and the country’s national security.
Ethiopian refugees, who fled fighting in Tigray, receive snacks at a Sudanese border reception centre in November 2020.
Photo by ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP via Getty Images
Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Research Fellow, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations University