famine

thumb|upright=1.35|Two men and a child, all dead from starvation during the Russian famine of 1921–1922 A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to: war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every inhabited continent in the world has experienced a period of famine throughout history. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Southeast and South Asia, as well as Eastern and Central Europe, suffered the greatest number of fatalities due to famine. Deaths caused by famine declined sharply beginning in the 1970s, with numbers falling further since 2000. Since 2010, Africa has been the most affected continent in the world by famine. As of 2025, Haiti and Afghanistan are the two countries with the most catastrophic and widespread states of famine, followed by Sudan.

==Definitions== According to the United Nations World Food Programme, famine is declared when malnutrition is widespread, and when people have started dying from starvation through lack of access to sufficient, nutritious food. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification criteria define Phase 5 famine of acute food insecurity as occurring when all three of the following situations exist at the same time: At least 20% of households in an area face extreme food shortages with a limited ability to cope; The prevalence of acute malnutrition in children exceeds 30%; The death rate exceeds two people per 10,000 per day. The declaration of a famine carries no binding obligations on the UN or member states, but serves to focus global attention on the problem.