FAMINE IN THEDEVELOPING WORLD

Jessica M. Paule

Famine…

• Despite a global food surplus, almost half of the world’s lessdeveloped countries suffer significant problems concerningfood.

• Causes of famine:– Shortage or inability of people to obtain food– Low food production resulting from drought

• Where?– In rural areas– Where farming and livestock rearing are the main means of livelihood

Famine…

• Expected results:– Continuing tight and volatile market conditions– Growing threat of starvation in poor developing countries– No increase of free food from the West

Famine…

• 1970-1990Half of the worlds developing countries had a decline in food supply.A quarter had increase in child hunger.

• Mid 1990s840 million did not have enough goods to meet basic nutritional needs

• 200 million suffer from sever malnutrition• Malnutrition is a major barrier to economic and

social development.

Famine in Africa• Nearly 30 million Africans could be facing famine within

months.

• The number at risk:– 15 million in the Horn of Africa– Over 14 million in southern Africa– Hundreds of thousands in the Sahel region of West Africa.

• Malnutrition is widespread across Africa, even in famine-freeyears where food production or imports appear to meet acountry’s needs.

• 40-50% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa goes hungry

Famine in Africa• Causes:

– Drought• Ruined harvests and left people and livestock without food and water.

– Not self-sufficient and rely on imports

– Armed conflict, corruption, and the mismanagement of food supplies

– Environmental degradation / Climate change

– trade policies that harm African agriculture

– AIDS

Famine in AfricaExamples:

• Under present terms of trade, African agriculture exports commandlow prices and cannot compete on world markets.

• Diversion of government finances, corruption or mismanagementhave gone alongside conflict or developed from bad governance andhave turned droughts and good shortages into famine.

• Throughout the Sub-Saharan famines (blamed on drought),exporting continued and the incoming aid went to support exportcrops.

• In Ethiopia, during drought from 1982-1985, the government spentall money on military, government farms fed military.

Famine in Africa

• Progress:

– Over the past 30 years, developing countries as a grouphave reduced the percentage of undernourished from 37-18%

– East and South Asia have reduced the figure from 43-13%

– Decline in rainfall over the Sahel due to climate change

Solutions?

• Increased food supply• Economic growth

ReferencesAdger, W. Neil. "Adaptation to climate change in the developing world."

Progress in Development Studies 3.3 (2003): 179-195.

Jenkins, J Craig . "Food security in less developed countries." ProQuest 66.5 (2001): 718, 27 pgs. 14 Nov. 2008.

Lewis, Paul. " Peril of Third-World Famine Is Seen by U.N. FoodAgency - New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News,World News & Multimedia. 27 Mar. 1990. 12 Nov. 2008<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DD1531F934A15750C0A966958260>.

Sommerville, Keith. "Why famine stalks Africa." BBC News. 12 Nov.2002. 12 Nov. 2008 <new.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2449527.stm>.