Disasters & Conflicts: South Sudan, north-east Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen. Famine, 2017

Countries: South Sudan, north-east Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen and surrounding countries
Period: 2017
Type of disaster & conflict: Drought and violence
Disaster & conflict: Millions of people are threatened by starvation owing to a combination of war, poverty and extreme drought.
Estimated number of victims: More than 20 million people do not have enough food. 1.4 million children are seriously malnourished.

A humanitarian disaster is gripping four huge areas. A fatal combination of extreme drought, poverty, war and violence is threatening millions of people with starvation. Yemen, north-east Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and surrounding countries face serious food shortages. The famine has forced many people to flee, causing the food situation in neighbouring countries to deteriorate.

Nowhere is the emergency greater than in South Sudan, which, for the first time in six years, the United Nations has formally declared a famine region. Because of the civil war and extreme drought, 100,000 people have been left without food. A quarter of all people in South Sudan have become refugees.

In Nigeria, almost 2 million people have fled to escape the violence between the Nigerian army and Boko Haram. They struggle to find food, and that problem also affects the local population that receives them. The situation in north-east Nigeria is also extreme, with more than 5.1 million people facing starvation. The biggest cause of the famine crisis in Somalia is extreme drought caused by climate change.

Owing to the bloody civil war that has lasted for two years, scarcely any food is available in Yemen. Harvests have failed because of bombings, so nearly all food has to be imported. But supplies have almost ground to a halt because of the violence and heavy fighting.