Urgent action is needed to prevent famine in 2021. Between 60-80 percent of the people currently coping with high levels of acute food insecurity are farmers, herders, fishers and foresters. Famine prevention must begin in the rural areas where they live, and focus on growing food there, where it is needed most, and on keeping people’s sustenance-giving animals alive. In many regions, the planting season is starting or underway. There is a window of opportunity to stabilize and increase local food production to prevent famine from breaking out. But we must act now.