Furthermore, land that is mined is unavailable for growing food and grazing stock. It is estimated that 1 million acres of agricultural land in Zimbabwe is lost to agriculture because it is lethal and so also ecologically damaged. It means that countries that could very well feed their populations may not be able to do so because land will not be available for ploughing. This is immoral since people are going to suffer from malnutrition and starvation, not because they are inherently unable to provide for themselves, but because it would be hazardous to engage in farming. This is true of large parts of Somalia, Angola, Ethiopia and Mozambique.
Famine becomes an instrument of war.
That is totally unacceptable. Apart from inflicting excessive injuries and apart from not discriminating between combatant and civilian, mines devastatingly continue to wreak their havoc long after hostilities have ended. It is believed that it will require 15 years to clear not all of Cambodia, but high priority areas of all mines. It means that countries needing reconstruction and development after the devastation of war may not be able to employ the resources of job creation and food production coming from engaging in agriculture. Their people may well starve not because the land has no capacity to support them but because it would be dangerous to try to do so by engaging in agriculture.