Starving in Silence: The Case for an African Commission Resolution on Conflict-Induced Starvation in Africa
Posted: 10 June, 2026 Filed under: Harry Mwesigwa, Maram Mahdi, Sohna Jawara | Tags: 2025 Global Report on Food Crises, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, African regional human rights system, armed groups, basic food needs, basic rights to dignity, conflict, crop fields, destruction of crops, Ethiopia, farms, food security, food stocks, human rights, humanitarian issue, hunger, irrigation systems, legal problem, Nigeria, regional instruments, South Sudan, Starvation, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, weapon of war Leave a commentAn advocacy piece
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Maram Mahdi |
Harry Mwesigwa |
Sohna Jawara |
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1 Introduction
Starvation is no longer reducible to drought, market failure or developmental lag in Africa. In conflict settings, hunger has been engineered as a weapon of war. Civilians are deprived of the means of survival not by accident but by design, through siege, the obstruction of relief convoys, the deliberate destruction of crops, and the targeting of marketplaces. The implications are stark, violating the most basic rights to dignity, health and life. In 2025, approximately 147 million people globally experienced acute food insecurity as a result of conflict.
The Changing Nature of Conflicts is putting a new strain on Human Rights
Posted: 31 January, 2025 Filed under: Michael Aboneka | Tags: abduction, adequate nutrition, Boko Haram, conflict, Convention on the Rights of the Children, DRC, education, Ethiopia, forced displacement, gross human rights violations, Israel-Hezbollah, livelihood, property, right to food, sexual violence, Somalia, Starvation, starvation tactic, Sudan, violence against children 2 Comments
Author: Michael Aboneka
Advocate of the Courts of Judicature of Uganda
There is a new shift from the conventional war of state-to-state confrontations to new forms of conflict with no clear boundaries between military and civilian spheres.[1] According to the Alert 2024 Report, 2023 recorded 36 armed conflicts the highest ever since 2014 with new cases in Ethiopia, Somalia, DRC, Sudan and Israel-Hezbollah.[2] This article explores how these new forms of conflicts have increased starvation, forced displacement and violence against children, in the face of increasing rise of non-state actors involved in conflict.
AfricLaw 