Fetching details from the dictionary...
poor crops; famine
凶荒に見舞われて多くの民が飢えた。
Many people starved when famine struck.
凶荒の年は年貢が免除されることもあった。
In famine years, land taxes were sometimes waived.
備蓄米が凶荒の際に人々を救った。
Stockpiled rice saved people during the famine.