Famine 2027: The Weaponization of Starvation and Humanitarian Failures in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East

2027 is set to be a year of hunger across the  Horn of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The weaponization of starvation, the fallout from the Strait of Hormuz closure and the ensuing shortages of fuel and fertilizer as well as the worst El Niño on the historical record cause extreme shortages of food for people who are already poor and vulnerable. The international humanitarian aid system lacks the capacity and resources for a response.
Seven years after the adoption of the UNSC resolution 2417 (2018), which strongly condemns the use of starvation against civilians as a method of warfare, famines  in Sudan and in Gaza were confirmed simultaneously in 2025, for the first time in this century. 
This public lecture of Alex de Waal will examine the polycrisis fuelled by conflict, price increases and climate change in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, its local and global implications and possible responses to it.

Alex de Waal is the Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation and Research Professor at the Fletcher School, Tufts University. He has worked on the Horn of Africa, famine and conflict since the 1980s and has served as a senior advisor to the African Union on Sudan and South Sudan. He has published a number of books on famine and related topics, including "Mass Starvation: The history and future of famine" (Polity 2018). His most recent book, "The Sudans" (Cornell University Press, 2026), details the work of the African Union ́s High-Level Panel, led by former President Thabo Mbeki, to advance peace and democracy in and between the Sudans. It was Africa ́s most ambitious peacemaking effort.

Moderator:
Irene Horejs, Former EU Ambassador, curator at the Bruno Kreisky Forum specialized on Africa and Latin America as well as on development and humanitarian policy.