1 / 13

Famines

Famines. Sources: The World Food Problem (2004, Leathers and Foster) World Hunger 12 Myths (1998, Lappe, Collins, and Rossett). Irish Potato Famine. 1845-1849 potato blight 1 million people died of starvation 1.5 million people emigrated Ireland was a colony of England

mabli
Download Presentation

Famines

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Famines Sources: The World Food Problem (2004, Leathers and Foster) World Hunger 12 Myths (1998, Lappe, Collins, and Rossett)

  2. Irish Potato Famine • 1845-1849 potato blight • 1 million people died of starvation • 1.5 million people emigrated • Ireland was a colony of England • Ireland was a net exporter of wheat and beef • Europe also had blight but starvation only in Ireland • British policies http://www.gormanfamilytree.com/images/famine2.jpg

  3. People Most Vulnerable to Famine • Poor rural people: crop failure • Small scale farmers • Unemployed tenant farmers • Landless agriculture workers • Pastoralists • Drought • Low animal prices http://www.sonic.net/~evolve/wp/human_ecology/sudan_famine_7.jpg

  4. Bangladesh Famine, 1974 • 100,000 died • Blamed on floods that destroyed crops • Actually never a shortage of food • Wealthy farmers hoarded food • Poor could not afford to buy food

  5. Sub-Saharan Africa (Sahel) • Recurring Famines 1970s, 80s • Blamed on Drought • But grow enough to feed everybody • Exports continued: cotton, vegetables, peanuts • Poor, indebted farmers suffer most • Desertification a problem • Aid supported export crops

  6. Ethiopia • Drought 1982-85: 300,000 people died • Drought uneven: affected only 30% of land • Civil War: post-colonial problem • Government spent billions on military, incurred huge debt: encouraged cash crops • Government farms fed military, huge army reduced numbers of farm workers • 800,000 relocated http://i.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1987/1101871221_400.jpg

  7. Rwanda • 1990s: Genocide, civil war, starving refugees • Country dependent on coffee exports: prices dropped plunging economy into crisis • World Bank, IMF “structural adjustment” doubled number in poverty • Rebels attacked most fertile region • Ethnic tensions left over from colonialism exploded, 500,000 killed • Crop production dropped, economy collapsed

  8. Sudan • Rebellion in Darfur starting 2003 • Region size of France • Farming villages bombed by Sudan government • To fight rebels • Ethnic cleansing by Pro-Arab militia (Janjaweed) • kill, rape, burn • Genocide? • 2.5 million refugees • 200,000- 450,000 dead • Many from starvation Refugees in Darfur, Sudan http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/sudan_genocide_genocide_in_sudan.php http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/sudan_genocide_genocide_in_sudan.php http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3496731.stm

  9. Famines are a Social Disaster • Vulnerability of the poor • Disasters result in poor losing land • Opportunity for the rich? • Claim to food may be lost • If too poor to buy food • Right to food? • Vulnerability of agriculture to nature • Poor conservation due to economic pressure • Hunger used as a weapon

  10. Ukraine Famine • Policy: Soviet Union established collective farms in 1930s • Policy: Quotas set for farm production • Policy: Food seized from farms to make quotas • 6-8 million Ukrainians died 1932-1933

  11. Great Leap Forward Famine1959-1961 • Policy & Ideology: China reorganized farms into large communes • Huge production predicted • Policy: Food exports increased in 1959 • Based on predictions • Poor weather resulted in low production • 30 million people died Propaganda Poster http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/ChinaLinks-New/Images-ChinaLinks1-07/glf.jpg

  12. North Korean Famine • 1990s – 500,000 - 3Million died of starvation • N. Korea doesn’t grow enough food for it’s population • Food rationed by government • Priority to military and party loyalists • With collapse of Soviet Union, grain aid reduced in 1990s • Industrial base too weak to afford grain imports • Military: • 1.2 million soldiers • ¼ N. Korean budget http://www.nkfreedom.org/fileadmin/Image_Archive/Photo_2girls.jpg

  13. Disaster Relief Needs • Better governance: democracy • Early warning, rapid response • Increase food availability • Discourage hoarding • Domestic production • Distribution to needy • Food or cash • Stabilization of food prices Rwanda refugee camp

More Related