Scholars have stressed that this language transition will contribute to the general understanding of famines as human-made and thus change the way we deal with these political events (Edkins 2007; de Waal 2017). Yemen’s civil war erupted in 2015, has killed and displaced thousands and is still ongoing. After almost five years of escalating conflict, Yemen continues to face an unprecedented humanitarian, social and economic crisis. 19 January 2017. http://theconversation.com/famine-doesnt-just-happen-and-those-who-cause-it-must-be-held-to-account-71519. amount, in any currency, is appreciated. While there, to varying degrees, are many actors involved, this article focuses on two of the largest actors directly involved: Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia’s and the Houthi rebels’ actions could be construed to fit into degree two of famine crimes as their violent actions implemented to stop the opposing side have had severe repercussions for food production and distribution in Yemen. It is important to acknowledge that famines are not necessarily the result of a breakdown of a system or distribution network, but instead often the result of successfully implemented policies by actors with political, military, and economic interests. In 2019 before the pandemic, 20 million people in Yemen were food insecure (FAO 2019). The Conversation. ‘Starvation As A Means Of Warfare’. ‘Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen Remains the Worst in the World, Warns UN’. While natural factors such as insect infestations and weather conditions can play a role in causing famines, it is structural factors such as long-term poverty and corruption which can severely impact nutrition levels in a country. It also facilitates an understanding of the causes of famines – the political choices behind the hunger. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/03/world/middleeast/war-crimes-yemen.html. ‘The End of Famine? 20 May 2019. https://www.wfp.org/news/world-food-programme-consider-suspension-aid-houthi-controlled-areas-yemen. Parties to the conflict in Yemen must do more to protect civilians, a senior UN humanitarian official there has said, as the number of civilian deaths has witnessed a sharp rise over the last few weeks in the war-ravaged country. DeFalco, R. C. 2011. The aforementioned research constitutes the foundation of this article about mass hunger and human accountability. In the case of Yemen, years of pervasive poverty, unemployment, and poor political governance in combination with a violent civil war has resulted in what the UN calls the worst humanitarian crisis in the world (UN News 2019). It’s crowded. 14 May 2020. https://www.blogalstudies.com/post/yemen-s-dual-burden-of-starvation-and-covid-19. Prospects for the Elimination of Mass Starvation by Political Action’. UNDP, 72. ‘Empire of Information: The War on Yemen and Its Agricultural Sector’. The underlying assumptions of the projections have either been, or are close to being surpassed”, he said. There are, thus, complex constellations of actors and motives which drives Yemen’s widespread hunger. The International Lawyer 4 (2): 228–68. ‘FAO and the Crisis in Yemen : FAO in Emergencies’. A forecast for 2020 by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN) has predicted increasing levels of acute food insecurity due to the combined effects of the conflict and a macroeconomic crisis (FSIN 2020, 194). It enables us to tease out the characteristics of starvation and facilitates a debate about who is responsible for inflicting hunger. ♦ Receive daily updates directly in your inbox -. All content on the website is published under the following Creative Commons License, Copyright © — E-International Relations. It is highly likely that the situation is worse than initially projected as conditions continue to worsen beyond the forecast levels. Hopma, Justa. Both proxy and directly involved actors have contributed to, and continue to drive, the crisis of hunger in Yemen through systematic policies (Cumming-Bruce 2019). Discriminate and indiscriminate targeting of civil infrastructure by the different sides of the conflict has resulted in damages. Mass hunger does not just happen – it is inflicted. As a consequence, food distribution networks and access to health services and basic utilities have been severely disrupted. The situation in Yemen exemplifies the effect of human involvement and shows that mass hunger is actor-driven and not a natural phenomenon. 2019, 23). However, if there is to be any hope for ameliorating current famines and diminishing the risk of future famines through deterrence, we need to talk about the actors responsible for faminogenic policies. The hunger can, therefore, be considered as preventable as years of poor political governance and enduring conflict is taking its toll on the country’s infrastructure and food supply chains. The UN calls Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 80 percent of the country’s 30 million people needing some form of aid. The Houthi rebels has used similar tactics by launching ballistic missiles towards Saudi Arabia and shelling targets within Yemen – both civilian and military (Mundy 2018; Barrington and El Yaakoubi 2019). All Rights Reserved | Site by Rootsy. 2020. Of a population of approximately 30 million, roughly two-thirds were experiencing some degree of hunger, and about 24 million people were reliant on relief aid (UN News 2020). “Acute malnutrition among children is hitting the highest levels we have seen since the war started.”. Almost 100,000 children under the age of five are at risk of dying in Yemen as the country slides back into a hunger crisis. 2009. http://www.insidejustice.com/intl/2009/04/27/famine_rome_statute/. These conditions inhibited the competitiveness of firms and has been made much worse by the ongoing conflict (Moyer et al. Barrington, Lisa, and Aziz El Yaakoubi. If we recognize that hunger is caused by human involvement, it becomes increasingly clear that we need to talk about hunger in a language of mass atrocities, with perpetrators and victims – famine crimes and not natural disasters. The conceptualization of famine as a crime is useful when applied to individual cases of mass hunger. A staggering 80 per cent of Yemen’s population – over 24 million people – require some form of humanitarian assistance and protection, including about 12.2 million children. Even before the start of the war, Yemen’s infrastructure was underdeveloped with unreliable access to electricity and poor transport networks which created a dependence on expensive generators and fuel. ‘FAO – News Article: Global Report on Food Crises Reveals Scope of Food Crises as COVID-19 Poses New Risks to Vulnerable Countries’. According to Martha Mundy, who has conducted field and archival research in Yemen, there exists compelling evidence showing that the strategy of the Saudi-Coalition has been to obliterate domestic food production (Mundy 2017). It asked for $3.2 billion. World Food Programme (WFP) spokeperson, Tomson Phiri, said the IPC forecast showed that by the end of 2020, 40% of the population in the analysed areas, or about 3.2 million people, would be severely food insecure. [1] A term devised by David Marcus (2003, 245) with the definition of “creating or aiding in the creation of famine”, [2] Also read the research project’s four-part blog series on hunger at the University of Gothenburg’s School of Global Studies blog: https://www.blogalstudies.com/. “Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food security crisis. Thornberry, Emily. Donations are voluntary and not required to download the e-book - your link to download is below. ‘Inside Justice | Famine and International Criminal Law Under the Rome Statute’. ‘The Purposes of Starvation Historical and Contemporary Uses’. These tactics by Saudi Arabia have effectively turned starvation into a weapon of war by depriving the population of healthcare services and food distribution networks. In a previous case study of Yemen’s mass hunger, I analysed the context using the concept of famine crimes (Marcus 2003) in combination with Tyner’s (2018) conditions of actor intentionality. Høvring, Roald. Johan Leijon is a recent graduate from the Master’s Programme in Global Studies at Gothenburg University. Food security crisis means acute malnutrition among under-fives at highest levels since war engulfed the country Last modified on Wed 28 Oct 2020 13.01 EDT … ‘Funding Shortfall Affecting Critical Water, Sanitation Services in Yemen’. The New York Times, 3 September 2019, sec. However, funding remains a challenge: as of mid-October, only $1.4 billion of the $3.2 billion needed in 2020 has been received. This prediction was made before the coronavirus outbreak, which, together with the current crisis of mass hunger, results in an even more dire medical emergency (Leijon 2020)[2]. The world can help by supporting the humanitarian response plan”, Mr. Laerke said. 30 January 2018. https://merip.org/2018/01/yemen-dispatch/. “What can the world do right now? 2017. Close your eyes and imagine this with me. ‘Famine Doesn’t Just “happen” – and Those Who Cause It Must Be Held to Account’. Marcus, David. Middle East Centre (blog). Political Geography 62 (January): 184–95. That is way below the funding levels we’ve seen in the past few years. A total of 230 out of Yemen's 333 districts (69 per cent) are at risk of famine. FAO. Before you download your free e-book, please consider donating to Your donations allow us to invest in new open access titles and pay our World Peace Foundation. This article is a part of “Famines as Mass Atrocities: Reconsidering Violence, Memory and Justice in Relation to Hunger”. 2009. These actions indicate intentionality and political interest where the actors actively contribute to the increase of food insecurity, and it could be argued that there are power and political advantages in controlling the production and distribution of food. Ms. Mercado said the most significant increase in southern areas was a 15.5% rise in children with severe acute malnutrition, a condition that leaves children around 10 times more likely to die of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, malaria or acute respiratory infections, all of which are common in Yemen. Moyer, Jonathan D, David Bohl, Taylor Hanna, Brendan R Mapes, and Mickey Rafa. However, funding remains a challenge: as of mid-October, only $1.4 billion of the $3.2 billion needed in 2020 has been received.
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