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

2027 is set to be a year of famine across the Horn of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The weaponisation of starvation, the fallout from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting shortages of fuel and fertiliser, as well as the worst El Niño on record, are causing extreme food shortages for people who are already poor and vulnerable. The international humanitarian aid system lacks the capacity and resources to respond.
Seven years after the adoption of the UNSC resolution 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 this century. 
This public lecture Alex de Waal will examine the polycrisis fuelled by conflict, rising prices 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 a Research Professor at the Fletcher School, Tufts University. He has been working on the Horn of Africa, famine and conflict since the 1980s and has served as a senior adviser 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 promote peace and democracy within and between the Sudans. It was Africa’s most ambitious peacemaking effort.

Moderator:
Irene Horejs, former EU Ambassador, curator at the Bruno Kreisky Forum specialising in Africa and Latin America, as well as in development and humanitarian policy.