The kingdom, it turned out, was unable to spare a thought to keeping a connection between its cities to keep goods flowing. Normally only doing so as an afterthought when it was almost too late.
Kynigo was a prime example of just this, luckily through using the Chosen they were able to deal with the aftermath of such poor management.
Poor refugees were completely forgotten unless a noble took the task of feeding and housing them on themselves. And in many cities, this was growing into a bigger and bigger problem.
Sure, magic was normally massively used to ensure there was enough food for everyone. But all of the supply still came from the land and the farms on that land. Magic just speed everything up, it wasn't a cure-all.