Their impacts are more severe when underlying factors make some groups more vulnerable. They can include climatic factors such as drought, economic shocks such as rapid inflation, and violent conflict or other political causes. They also contend that we cannot eradicate famine without holding people who cause it accountable.įamines typically have multiple causes. Some analysts assert that famines are crimes of either commission or omission, because human decisions and actions determine whether a crisis deteriorates into a full-blown famine. Today we recognize famines happen only with some degree of human complicity.

Although many people believe today that famines occur mostly in Africa, the deadliest famines of the 20th century were in Europe (Ukraine) and Asia (China). Then in 1981 economist/philosopher Amartya Sen published “ Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation,” which showed that famines actually resulted when food was available but some groups could not access it. Famine Early Warning Systems Network Human-made emergenciesįor many years experts believed that famines were caused by a shortfall in food availability. Young children are especially vulnerable.Ĭlick to zoom. This makes people much more susceptible to killer diseases such as measles, or even common conditions such as diarrhea.

More of these deaths are caused by infectious disease than starvation because severe malnutrition compromises human immune systems.

What explains this rapid rise in the number of people who need emergency food assistance? And why, in an era of declining poverty and hunger worldwide, are we suddenly facing four potential famines in unconnected countries? What are famines?įamines are extreme events in which large populations lack adequate access to food, leading to widespread malnutrition and deaths. This number has increased by nearly 50 percent in just the past two years. government-funded organization created in 1985 specifically to predict famines and humanitarian emergencies – estimated that 70 million people affected by conflicts or disasters worldwide will need food assistance in 2017. Moreover, in January the Famine Early Warning System (FEWSNET) – a U.S. In late February a famine was declared in South Sudan, and warnings of famine have also recently been issued for Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen. Famine killed nearly 75 million people in the 20th century, but had virtually disappeared in recent decades.

Amartya sen famine and poverty