Last year, more than 45 million people – the majority of them women and children – were on the brink of starvation. As many as 222 million faced high levels of food insecurity in 53 countries, and almost one million were affected by famine and at serious risk of starvation. In 2023, the situation is projected to worsen.

The global hunger crisis is driven by multiple factors, including conflict, climate change, the effects of COVID-19 and rising global commodity prices, with the most vulnerable communities facing skyrocketing food, energy and fertilizer bills.

These facts and figures demonstrate the magnitude of the global food insecurity crisis. They do not, however, fully reflect the direct and dramatic impacts of hunger on people and communities across the affected regions. Hunger ravages people’s health and well-being, makes them vulnerable to illness, and undermines their ability to work and care for their families. In all this, women and girls are the worst affected and often face additional risks.

In March 2023, my office co-convened a high-level humanitarian roundtable with members of the Security Council, member states from the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, UN partners, women leaders, policymakers, and practitioners. Before the event, we released a policy brief, which found that: 1) we face alarming risks of profound regressions in crucial gender equality gains made to date in regions plagued by food insecurity; and 2) there is an increasing challenge to reverse the protracted and growing GBV emergency in the regions.

As food insecurity increases, women and girls are not only at the greatest risk of hunger but also of the violation of other fundamental rights. This is particularly pronounced in the following ways:

  • Education: Across the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, girls have been dropping out of school at an alarming scale and rate. In Somalia, for example, 420,000 children are currently at risk of dropping out of school, of which 189,000 are girls at risk of child marriage and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and cutting, often out of parents’ concern for their safety. When food insecurity increases, so do girls’ responsibilities in the household. Girls are more likely to have to look after their younger siblings and fetch water and food at further distances, which exposes them to risks of sexual violence and abuse. This mass un-schooling is profoundly alarming and poses a real risk of a ‘lost generation’ of girls.
  • Gender-based violence (GBV): It is well-documented that food insecurity exacerbates the risk of various forms of GBV for women and girls. Families who face increased poverty strive to protect their children and to have fewer mouths to feed, including by subjecting daughters to child marriage. Adolescent girls’ and young women’s sexuality is used as a commodity, with girls being sold and the practice of the dowry persisting or reappearing in some contexts. As conflicts intensify over dwindling resources, we also see conflict-related sexual violence increase. Services for GBV survivors, which are already chronically underfunded, are extremely limited and stretched in their ability to cope with the rising caseload.
  • Sexual and reproductive health: An area of women’s health severely impacted by rising levels of food insecurity is their sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Lack of access to food increases the likelihood of anemia and maternal mortality. In Western Sahel, maternal mortality is three times the global rate. In periods of drought, food-insecure communities tend to prioritize food-related needs over women’s health, further reducing their agency in family planning, access to SRH services and management of their menstrual health.
  • Pay inequity: Women play major roles in our food systems, yet there is pay inequity. Across Africa, women constitute half the workforce, including in the agricultural sector. In some countries, they contribute to as much as 40% of agricultural production, 80% of agricultural processing and 70% of agricultural distribution labor. Despite their crucial role in food systems, a myriad of harmful social norms and deeply entrenched gender inequalities hinder women from accessing and controlling land and other economic resources.

How funders can help

  • Address the complex interlinkages and gendered dynamics of food insecurity, drought and climate through partnerships across sectors.
  • Incentivize the humanitarian sector to deliver on its gender equality commitments by insisting on gender-transformative approaches and adequate and flexible funding to local women’s organizations.
  • Prioritize GBV funding from the early onset of food insecurity and famine through dedicated allocations for GBV-specialized programming.
  • In the area of agriculture, ensure women’s ownership and fair remuneration, and increase their access to and control over land, employment and money.

Read the full article about food insecurity and women and girls by Lisa Doughten at the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.