Stages 1-4    Seasonality    Armed Conflict    Natural Disasters

For more on armed conflict and nutrition security go to:            Famine           Food Aid

Many armed conflicts of the late 20th century have led to household food insecurity and great famines --Nigerian Civil War (1968-1970), Bangladesh Civil War (1971), armed insurrection in Eritrea and Tigray (1984-1985), Civil War in Mozambique (after 1984) and Civil War in Somalia (1991-1992) ).(Cuny, 1999).  As a result of these conflicts, an estimated 2 million children have been killed and even a greater number have been have died from malnutrition and disease during such crises (FAO). 

It seems that armed conflict, famine, and food aid can not be discussed independently, but rather as a complex network.  In almost every famine of the 1980's and 1990's the country was at war.  The question is then posed:  Did the famine conditions occur due the country at war spending all of its funds on defense or diverting food from certain regions of the country?  There have been disturbing situations where governments have attempted to block food to populations - a type of weapon used to control rebel areas.  This was the case when Nigerians used food as a weapon against Biafra, but the region persevered through 1.5 million deaths (mostly women, children, and elderly) and did not sacrifice the food going to the rebels to save those who were least likely to be combatants. Not every war, however, used food as a weapon or creates famine conditions.  Many times the food supply is not disrupted or distroyed.

The decline of agricultural production because of physical insecurity; disruption in roads, markets, storage, or distribution systems; lack of agricultural inputs and extension services; destruction of food processing, and loss of income coupled with rising prices are all factors which affect household food security during armed conflict. In rural areas, displacement or death of working family members, loss of draught animals, lack of food to provide adequate dietary energy for work and increasingly often the threat of land mines can prevent sufficient land from being cultivated and harvested. All of these factors affect both the quantity and quality of the food that is available to families (Hussain, FAO).

Source: Hussain, FAO's Nutrition Programmes Service