Activists and scholars are seeking to end famine by promoting international legal accountability for starvation. This article deepens our understanding of the relationship between the politics of famine and law by observing the ongoing prevalence and power of legal norms and institutions during times of famine. It reveals the widespread use of hunger courts in famine-prone South Sudan and their role in legally enforcing social networks that provide for the most vulnerable. Based on analysis…
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CSRF Research Repository
The CSRF Research Repository aims to support greater contextual knowledge for policy makers, programme managers, and implementers by providing a searchable repository of research, analysis, and resources, and providing periodic updates on new research and analysis.
This report explores the important role chiefs’ courts play in food security and in addressing hunger in South Sudan by reallocating food to vulnerable community members. Their role is particularly important in view of famine and recurrent extreme food insecurity affecting South Sudan. The authors suggest that chief courts potentially offer useful data for famine early warning and responses but also underline that humanitarian actors engaging with chiefs’ courts should do so with a contextually…
In January 2018, an estimated 48% of the population remaining within South Sudan was classified as severely food insecure (over 5 million individuals) under the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). To provide humanitarians in South Sudan with a better understanding of Famine risk in South Sudan, REACH gathered information on recent and historical experiences of severe hunger, “famine,” and the shocks that cause these circumstances, as told by South Sudanese. Using a qualitative and…
In 2017, famine and near-famine conditions were reported in four countries: South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, and parts of northeastern Nigeria. About 20 million people in these countries were at risk of starvation. A further 10 million people could join them in 2018. Famine as a technical term means that specific criteria have been met. One of these is that at least 30 percent of young children are acutely malnourished. Famine conditions were present in parts…
This report that discusses opportunities provided by livestock in South Sudan referring to famine, access and conflict sensitivity is based on research conducted by Naomi Pendle and the Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility (CSRF) in 2017. The research was funded by the UK, Swiss, and Canadian Donor Missions in South Sudan.
South Sudan has been at the heart of a relentless civil war for more than 30 years, but its ongoing violence has recently reached a level of unprecedented severity. As armed insurgents continue to clash with the government’s military forces, thousands of civilians have lost their lives and millions remain displaced. Earlier this year, the country experienced a devastating and widespread famine that threatened to starve more than 100,000 people. Even now, as the country…
After a long-term decline in the frequency and lethality of famines, 2017 has witnessed resurgent international concern over the issue. This paper examines the trends in famine over the last 150 years, with particular attention to the fusion of famine with forcible mass starvation. It identifies four main historic periods of famines, namely: the zenith of European colonialism; the extended World War; post-colonial totalitarianism; and post-Cold War humanitarian emergencies; and asks whether we may be…
War in South Sudan led the UN to declare 100,000 people are suffering famine, with a further 5.5 million at risk. This special briefing urges the country to work harder to establish parameters for a ceasefire. At the same time, humanitarian corridors from Sudan should be kept open and donors must fully fund the UN aid appeal. Download
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