(しょくりょうなん)

しょくりょうなん
noun
food shortage; food crisis
1. food shortage; food crisis; famine conditions
A situation where the food supply is insufficient for the population, whether due to war, natural disaster, or other causes.
戦後(せんご)食糧難(しょくりょうなん)(くる)しんだ。
People suffered from food shortages after the war.
(かん)ばつによる食糧難(しょくりょうなん)深刻化(しんこくか)している。
The food shortage caused by the drought is worsening.
世界(せかい)人口(じんこう)増加(ぞうか)(ともな)い、将来的(しょうらいてき)食糧難(しょくりょうなん)懸念(けねん)されている。
With the increase in world population, future food shortages are a concern.

Composed of 食糧(しょくりょう) (food supply, provisions) + (なん) (difficulty, hardship). Refers to a large-scale food shortage affecting a region or country, not an individual's lack of food. In Japan, the term is strongly associated with the severe food shortages of the immediate postwar period (1945-1948).

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 食糧難(しょくりょうなん)(おちい)る — to fall into a food crisis
  • 食糧難(しょくりょうなん)()()える — to overcome a food shortage
  • 深刻(しんこく)食糧難(しょくりょうなん) — severe food shortage

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • 飢饉(ききん) — famine; more severe, implies mass starvation
  • 食糧不足(しょくりょうぶそく) — food insufficiency; more neutral, technical term
  • 飢餓(きが) — starvation, hunger; refers to the physical condition of being starved