Famine: Definition, mechanism of recognizing such disaster Dire food insecurity sparks fears over Gaza

For months, UN officials, aid groups, and humanitarian experts have warned that Palestinians in Gaza are teetering on the edge of famine. Despite a recent easing of a weekslong Israeli halt on aid—prompted by mounting international pressure—the flow of aid into the besieged territory remains alarmingly insufficient. The UN humanitarian aid office has described the current influx of food as a mere trickle into an area facing catastrophic hunger levels. Israel maintains that the blockade is intended to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages and claims the militant group diverts humanitarian aid. While famine has not been formally declared in Gaza, more than 2 million people are living under extreme conditions of food insecurity.

A recent article by the Associated Press examines what defines a famine and how one is formally recognized.

The standard comes from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the leading international authority on hunger crises. According to their definition, famine refers to a severe, widespread shortage of food that leads to malnutrition, starvation and death and is the most extreme form of hunger crisis. A famine is declared when three critical thresholds are met:

- 20% of households face extreme food deprivation (essentially starving)

- At least 30% of a population suffers from acute malnutrition (wasting), meaning they are too thin for their height

- Two adults or four children per 10,000 people die daily from hunger or related causes

Although they represent just 11% of the world’s population, the 20 countries the IRC identifies as most at risk of humanitarian disaster account for 71% of global crisis-level food insecurity.

However, the organization notes that famine does not always encompass an entire region. It can develop in localized “pockets,” requiring cautious and precise assessment. In the past, famine conditions have been declared in specific regions of North Darfur in Sudan (2023), Somalia (2011), and South Sudan (2017), where tens of thousands suffered when food prices spiked as a result of civil war.

Determining famine status in Gaza presents unique complications. Due to the severe limitations on access, the article highlights that collecting reliable data is extremely difficult. In light of this, the IPC allows for a designation of “famine with reasonable evidence” if two of the three criteria are confirmed and the third is likely occurring based on available indicators. The IPC includes experts from more than 20 global organizations, including UN agencies, the World Bank, the European Union, and humanitarian groups like CARE International and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network.

As for who declares a famine, there is no formal or centralized authority. While the IPC is recognized as the main mechanism for analysing food crises, it does not typically issue a declaration itself. Instead, declarations often come from UN officials or national governments, based on IPC analyses.

Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), clarified a common misconception: “There’s a widespread misunderstanding that someone has to declare a famine before it is a famine. That is not the case. When IPC shows the data that hits the threshold for a famine, then it’s a famine.”

What happens once a famine is identified?

Once a famine is officially recognized, it is expected to unlock emergency funding and humanitarian responses from international actors. However, the system is far from perfect. “There is not a big, huge bank account” ready to be used, said Laerke. “The fundamental problem is that we build the fire engine as we respond.”

In the case of Gaza, the article notes that aid is beginning to re-enter, but in drastically insufficient amounts. Following Israel’s partial reopening of access, roughly 1,000 aid trucks were reportedly allowed in over 12 days—still well below pre-war levels, when several hundred trucks entered daily. Aid agencies report that chaos, gunfire, and looting have disrupted food distribution, exacerbating the crisis. The humanitarian system, as it stands, is struggling to meet the scale and urgency of the crisis, according to the article, while the population continues to face unprecedented deprivation.

By Nazrin Sadigova