On a scale not seen in Africa in nearly two decades, famine is once again abundant the continent. According to estimates by the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), as many as 38 million Africans are living under the threat of starvation, and many more will  die if emergency relief does not reach them in time. As of mid-2002, famine conditions were concentrated mainly in Southern Africa, but by the end of the year they had appeared just as severely in the Horn of Africa, and on a lesser scale in several countries in West and Central Africa

Photo: ©WFP / R. Lee

"This is an unprecedented crisis, which calls for an unprecedented response," WFP Executive Director James Morris warned the UN Security Council on 3 December, during a session devoted to considering Africa's food crisis as a threat to peace and security. "The magnitude of the disaster unfolding in Africa has not been fully grasped by the international community.... An exceptional effort is urgently needed if a major catastrophe is to be averted. Business as usual will not do."

Mr. Morris and other members of Security Council debate pointed to a many factors contributing to the current crisis:

• drought and other difficult weather conditions in many of the affected countries, bringing low harvests and driving up the price of food
• the debilitating impact of HIV/AIDS, which leaves those infected less able to stave off the ravages of hunger and weakens local farming systems by killing off millions of Africa's most productive farmers
• armed conflict or political strife, as in Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Zimbabwe, and the difficulties confronting countries only recently emerging from conflict, including Angola, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sierra Leone
• inadequate economic policies, especially in agriculture, which in many affected countries have brought too little investment in farming inputs, rural infrastructure or essential social services -- problems compounded by the poor prices African farm exports fetch on the world market. (UN famine)

For relief organizations, the most immediate challenge is mobilizing enough food, medical care and other assistance to prevent massive loss of life in the famine-stricken countries. This will not be easy, and pledges have been lagging well behind needs. Yet, as WFP Deputy Executive Director Jean-Jacques Graisse emphasized on 16 December, during the launch of an international "Africa Hunger Alert" campaign, "Progress is possible, if the political will is there."

The many factors causing  Africa's re-occuring cycles of famine also the need for greater attention to long-term strategies to promote development and peace. "Just shipping in food is not enough," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated in a 9 December address at New York's Columbia University that focused on women, AIDS and the Southern African famine.