UK development minister Kirsty McNeill delivered a speech on 28 October about measures to address looming food crises. She said hunger is not only a humanitarian issue but also a matter of power and politics, linked to inequality, conflict and access to food. Food security, she said, should be considered part of a country’s overall security.
McNeill pointed to extremely high levels of food insecurity in Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, higher transport costs for fuel and fertiliser due to conflicts near the Strait of Hormuz and in the Red Sea, limited government resources and an overstretched humanitarian system. A developing “super” El Niño threatens harvests in the Horn of Africa, across the continent and beyond.
Last year, 645 million people experienced hunger and a third of humanity could not afford a healthy diet, according to McNeill. In Africa, that figure was two in three people. Acute malnutrition affected 35 million children, nearly 10 million of them so severely that they could have died without treatment. For the first time in a year, famine was confirmed in two places at once.
McNeill said hunger can result from political decisions. In Sudan, cities were besieged, markets attacked and aid deliveries obstructed. In Gaza, after some aid was allowed in, the number of children receiving treatment for acute malnutrition fell from 17,000 a month at its peak to fewer than 3,000 in less than a year.
The UK government plans to strengthen resilience in its own and global food systems. About 60% of the food consumed in the UK is produced domestically. A Food Preparedness Group has been established to identify vulnerabilities and improve planning, working with the sector.
The UK wants to move from early warnings to coordinated action. McNeill said 33 countries had appeared in every edition of the Global Report on Food Crises over the past decade, meaning many crises cannot be considered unpredictable. The UK supports a shared risk assessment led by FAO and WFP, pre-arranged financing and closer coordination among governments, UN agencies, international financial institutions and insurers.
Last month, McNeill announced up to £15 million for anticipatory measures in several countries ahead of El Niño, including livestock vaccination and cash support for farmers before shocks hit. The UK also backs humanitarian-system reform and supports volunteer Emergency Response Rooms in Sudan, which organise community kitchens and provide food for millions.
McNeill said aid alone cannot stop the conflicts that cause hunger. The UK plans to use its diplomatic leverage, including its seat on the UN Security Council, to prevent conflict, support mediation, secure aid access and protect civilians and humanitarian workers. She also highlighted nutrition and long-term resilience: the UK has helped mobilise more than one billion dollars for countries with the highest levels of malnutrition through the Child Nutrition Fund.
