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.
戦後は食糧難に苦しんだ。
People suffered from food shortages after the war.
干ばつによる食糧難が深刻化している。
The food shortage caused by the drought is worsening.
世界人口の増加に伴い、将来的な食糧難が懸念されている。
With the increase in world population, future food shortages are a concern.
Composed of 食糧 (food supply, provisions) + 難 (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:
- 食糧難に陥る — to fall into a food crisis
- 食糧難を乗り越える — to overcome a food shortage
- 深刻な食糧難 — severe food shortage
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 飢饉 — famine; more severe, implies mass starvation
- 食糧不足 — food insufficiency; more neutral, technical term
- 飢餓 — starvation, hunger; refers to the physical condition of being starved