Increasing the Resilience of the Food Systems
In Islamic States in Face of Future Food Crises
44
Condition OIC Countries Affected
Anemia and
Stunting
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Chad, Indonesia, Mozambique, Niger,
Pakistan, Uganda
Triple Burden Albania, Benin, Cameroon, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Sierra Leone,
Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Yemen
Source: Global Nutrition Report 2018
3.2. Food Crises and Causes in the OIC
In 2018, 64.7million 143 people in OIC member states were estimated to be facing food crisis or
worse, facing either food consumption gaps with high acutemalnutrition or marginallymeeting
minimum food requirementswith rapid livelihood asset erosion. Many of these people were in
a state of food emergency, suffering from acutemalnutrition or extreme loss of livelihood assets.
Yemen and Afghanistan were the worst impact by food crises among OIC countries. In Yemen,
53% of the population were in urgent need of food and livelihood support from December 2016
to January 2018. 10.6 million food-insecure Afghans required urgent action to save their
livelihoods, reduce their food gaps and curb acutemalnutrition. Although acute food insecurity
is a transient issue,144 to meet food consumption needs triggered by sudden shocks, it is
necessary to prevent repetitive cycles of acute food insecurity that result in chronic poverty and
potential starvation.
Acute malnutrition significantly fell in territories of Afghanistan, northeastern Nigeria, Yemen,
Syrian Arab Republic, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger , and Senegal between 2017
and 2018.145
95.8 million146 people in OIC countries were estimated to be in a food-stressed state, with
minimally adequate food consumption but an inability to afford vital non-food expenditures
without deploying negative coping strategies. This therefore required livelihood protection and
disaster risk reduction.
Conflict and insecurity, climate shocks, and economic instabilitywere primary drivers of these
food crises. These drivers often co-exist in a territory and reinforce one another. Key conflict-
inflicted territories experienced persistently high levels of acute food insecurity. Climate
disasters have driven millions into food insecurity as incidence rates of extremes—such as
droughts and floods—have more than doubled since the early 1990s.147 Studies suggest that a
warming climate has a detrimental impact on crop production, rendering farmers dependent on
rain-fed agriculture, which is extremely vulnerable.148
143 Food Security Information Network. (2019, April). Global Reporton Food Crises 2019. Retrieved from
144 Ibid.
145 Ibid.
146 Ibid.
147 IPCC. ( 2018, October). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report 15. Retrieved from
148 Food Security Information Network. (2019, April). Global Report on Food Crises2019. Retrieved from