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What is a famine? Criteria, declaration, and controversies

  • Page updated onApril 7, 2026
What is a famine?
Text and photo: Bruno Abarca

Since the standardized system for classifying famines was established in 2004, only five have been declared. Unfortunately, this is not because extreme acute food insecurity, malnutrition, and mortality have disappeared, but because confirming it is technically very difficult. Furthermore, declaring a famine often depends on the very parties responsible for causing the humanitarian crisis.

Furthermore, talking about famine is not the same as talking about hunger or food insecurity. This page clarifies the international technical criteria for confirming a famine.

The difference between famine and food insecurity

How is food security classified?: the IPC scale

There are several ways to measure food security. One of them is the FIES scale, focused on the food insecurity experience of those surveyed. Another is the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (or IPC) (IPC, 2024)Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. (2024). The IPC communication guidelines 2024. https://www.ipcinfo.org/communicationguidelines. It is an initiative by a group of international actors to guide policies, programmes, and emergency humanitarian responses.

The IPC is not a single measure. It is a framework that includes several related classifications, such as the IPC for Acute Food Insecurity, the IPC for Chronic Food Insecurity, and the IPC for Acute Malnutrition.

Of the three IPC frameworks, the one for acute food insecurity is the most widely used, given its potential to analyse the level of need in humanitarian crises and guide rapid responses. It is calculated from the analysis and consensus of experts on several outcome and context indicators. These include food availability, access, consumption, food system stability, unsustainable coping strategies, malnutrition, and mortality (IPC, 2021)Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. (2021). Indicators utilized by IPC (Version 1). https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/resources/resources-details/en/c/1154952/.

As a result of technical consensus among analysts, the IPC scale establishes five possible levels of acute food insecurity: (1) minimal or none, (2) stressed, (3) crisis, (4) emergency, and (5) catastrophe or famine. This classification applies to both households and areas. Essentially, an area is classified in a specific phase when at least 20% of households are in that phase or in more severe phases.

A famine is a state of extreme food insecurity, coupled with acute malnutrition and excess mortality

The proportion of households in IPC Phase 5 for acute food insecurity exceeds 20%. In other words, one in five households faces an extreme lack of food.

  1. The proportion of households in IPC Phase 5 for acute food insecurity exceeds 20%. In other words, one in five households faces an extreme lack of food.
  2. The prevalence of acute malnutrition in children under five years of age reaches or exceeds 30% (measured by weight-for-height index) or 15% (measured by MUAC).
  3. The crude death rate reaches 2 deaths per 10,000 people per day, or 4 deaths per 10,000 children under 5 years of age per day, due to starvation or the interaction between malnutrition and disease.

All these conditions are necessary, but not sufficient. This means that if only the first condition is met, it can be said that more than 20% of the population is in Phase 5 (catastrophe), but the area could not be officially classified as a famine. If the thresholds of two of these three conditions have been exceeded, and it is believed that the third is also likely to have been exceeded, this is referred to as a famine with reasonable evidence. If there is clear and convincing evidence that all three thresholds have been reached, this is referred to as a famine with solid evidence.

It is also important to note that this system is only a technical classification. When a national analysis suggests a possible famine, the Famine Review Committee is activated, which examines the evidence with technical rigour and confirms the findings. This is what enables governments and international agencies to make the formal declaration of famine; the responsibility for doing so rests with them.

A famine always requires urgent action from all parties involved to ensure humanitarian access, a rapid multisectoral response, and the cessation of conflict, if it is considered a contributing factor.

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What is the practical operational importance of the official recognition of a famine, if other earlier indicators already justify a humanitarian response?

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Since 2004, only five famines have been declared

The standardised system for detecting and classifying famines was established in 2004. Before that, there were of course many well-known historical famines, but none officially confirmed. In fact, it is estimated that in the twentieth century alone, more than 70 million people died in famines in China, the Soviet Union, India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Sudan (Devereux, 2000)Devereux, S. (2000). Famine in the twentieth century (IDS Working Paper 105). Institute of Development Studies. https://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/wp105.pdf.

Since 2004, only five famines have been officially confirmed worldwide: 

  • Somalia (2011): More than 490,000 people experienced extreme acute food insecurity conditions, due to drought and conflict, in the south of the country.
  • South Sudan (2017): In the central and northern parts of the country, more than 80,000 people faced famine conditions (Phase 5). A further one million people were in an emergency situation (Phase 4), following three years of civil war.
  • South Sudan (2020): Famine struck the country again three years after the previous episode, as a result of conflict and flooding.
  • Sudan (2024): The Famine Review Committee confirmed the famine classification at the end of the year, updating it in 2025 (IPC, 2025b)Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. (2025, October). Famine Review Committee: Sudan — Conclusions and recommendations. https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Famine_Review_Committee_Report_Sudan_Oct_2025.pdf, as a result of armed conflict, the blockade of humanitarian aid in besieged areas, and the forced displacement of millions of people.
  • Gaza (2025): The Famine Review Committee determined in August of this year, despite technical difficulties and the collapse of registration systems, that famine was already a reality in parts of the Strip, making it the first officially confirmed famine in the Middle East (IPC, 2025c)Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. (2025b, August). Famine Review Committee: Gaza Strip — Conclusions and recommendations. https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Famine_Review_Committee_Report_Gaza_Aug2025.pdf.

Why is it so difficult to declare a famine?

Declaring a famine requires a series of steps that, in complex humanitarian crises, can pose a genuine challenge, due to the strictness of its technical criteria and its political implications (de Zwarte et al., 2026)de Zwarte, I., de Waal, A., & Lumey, L. H. (2026). Rethinking current famine classification: Insights from history. The Lancet, 407(10530), 755–757. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(26)00214-X.

First, the technical thresholds for confirming a famine are highly strict and difficult to evidence. How can the prevalence of severe acute malnutrition be measured when armed groups restrict humanitarian access, or when health information systems have collapsed? Furthermore, some of the thresholds prove inadequate for certain contexts, having been initially designed for others and not focusing on the age groups in which mortality increases the most. Mortality, moreover, is a lagging indicator. By the time it is evidenced, it is already too late to prioritise an intervention in populations that have already been living in extreme conditions for weeks or months.

Finally, the official declaration is highly politicised and easily manipulated by authorities. Why would those responsible for causing a famine want to admit that it has actually occurred and expose themselves to international pressure or sanctions? Quite the opposite. Furthermore, in conflict zones, the parties involved can easily restrict access to demographic and anthropometric data.

References

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How to cite this page

Abarca, B. (April 7, 2026). What is a famine? Criteria, declaration and controversies. Salud Everywhere. https://saludeverywhere.com/en/health-in-humanitarian-crises/what-is-a-famine-controversies-criteria-declaration/

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