THE Nobel Peace Prize often goes to statesmen and activists who have done great service to the cause of peace in the world. However, this year the Norwegian committee that decides the prize went for an unusual winner: the UN’s World Food Programme. The choice of winner indicates the seriousness hunger poses to world peace; in the words of the committee chair, “the link between hunger and armed conflict is a vicious circle”, adding that while conflict leads to food insecurity, lack of access or availability of food can also stir up conflict. The WFP helped feed 97m people last year, particularly in Yemen, as well as other troubled regions such as South Sudan and Congo. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic and the global recession it has engendered risks pushing between 83m and 132m people into hunger. As the WFP’s head warned earlier this year, the world is facing “multiple famines of biblical proportions”. While poorer states and conflict zones have been hit hard by hunger due to the pandemic, even richer nations are not immune. For example, shocking images of serpentine breadlines in the US — the world’s number one economy — over the last few months illustrate the depth of the problem.

As for how to address this key issue, there are no easy answers. While the WFP must be commended for stepping in to feed millions of vulnerable people, the root causes — conflict, inequality, poverty — that fuel global hunger must be addressed. Ideally, the destructive cycle of conflict and hunger must be broken. In places like Yemen this is possible if the powerful actors involved in this brutal war show the resolve to cease hostilities. Tackling food waste can be another solution, as over a billion tonnes of food are wasted every year. And considering that the global economy will be in frail health for the foreseeable future, social safety nets must be put in place to ensure that the poorest and the weakest in the world don’t go to sleep hungry.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2020