Editing Famine (section)

==History==
{{Further|List of famines}}
[[File:Great Tenmei Famine Map Artwork.png|thumb|[[Great Tenmei famine]] in Japan (1782–1788)]]
The cyclical occurrence of famine has been a mainstay of societies engaged in [[subsistence agriculture]] since the dawn of agriculture itself. The frequency and intensity of famine has fluctuated throughout history, depending on changes in food demand, such as [[population growth]], and supply-side shifts caused by changing [[climate|climatic]] conditions.

===Decline of famine===
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the feudal system began to break down, and more prosperous farmers began to [[enclosure|enclose]] their own land and improve their yields to sell the surplus crops for a profit. These [[capitalism|capitalist]] landowners paid their labourers with [[wage labour|money]], thereby increasing the commercialization of rural society. In the emerging competitive labour market, better techniques for the improvement of labour productivity were increasingly valued and rewarded. It was in the farmer's interest to produce as much as possible on their land, in order to sell it to areas that demanded their produce. They produced guaranteed [[surplus value|surpluses]] of their crop every year if they could.

Subsistence peasants were also increasingly forced to commercialize their activities because of increasing [[tax]]es. Taxes that had to be paid to central governments in money, forced the peasants to produce crops to sell. Sometimes they produced [[industrial crop]]s, but they would find ways to increase their production in order to meet both their subsistence requirements as well as their tax obligations. Peasants also used the new money to purchase manufactured goods. The agricultural and social developments encouraging increased food production were gradually taking place throughout the 16th century, but took off in the early 17th century.

By the 1590s, these trends were sufficiently developed in the rich and commercialized province of [[Holland]] to allow its population to withstand a general outbreak of famine in Western Europe at that time. By that time, the [[Netherlands]] had one of the most commercialized agricultural systems in Europe. They grew many industrial crops such as [[flax]], [[hemp]] and [[hops]]. Agriculture became increasingly specialized and efficient. The efficiency of Dutch agriculture allowed for much more rapid urbanization in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries than anywhere else in Europe. As a result, productivity and wealth increased, allowing the [[Netherlands]] to maintain a steady food supply.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bieleman |first=Jan |url=http://www.neha.nl/publications/eshn-4/08-bieleman.pdf |title=Dutch Agriculture in the Golden Age, 1570–1660 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401022510/http://www.neha.nl/publications/eshn-4/08-bieleman.pdf |archive-date=1 April 2010}}</ref>

By 1650, English agriculture had also become commercialized on a much wider scale. The last peacetime famine in England was in 1623–24. There were still periods of hunger, as in the Netherlands, but no more famines ever occurred. Common areas for pasture were [[enclosure|enclosed]] for private use and large scale, efficient farms were consolidated. Other technical developments included the draining of marshes, more efficient field use patterns, and the wider introduction of industrial crops. These agricultural developments led to wider prosperity in England and increasing urbanization.<ref>{{cite book |last=Curtler |first=W.H.R. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yomy8cKVOtkC |title=A Short History of English Agriculture |publisher=Etusevi Company |chapter=ch. 11|year=2005 |isbn=9781450515030 }}</ref> By the end of the 17th century, English agriculture was the most productive in Europe.<ref>{{cite book |last=Burns |first=William E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=59ITUOLbVkoC |title=The Scientific Revolution: An Encyclopedia |year=2001 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=7 |isbn=978-0-87436-875-8 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-date=16 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230916141524/https://books.google.com/books?id=59ITUOLbVkoC |url-status=live }}</ref> In both England and the Netherlands, the population stabilized between 1650 and 1750, the same time period in which the sweeping changes to agriculture occurred. Famine still occurred in other parts of Europe, however. In [[Eastern Europe]], famines occurred as late as the twentieth century.

===Attempts at famine alleviation===
[[File:Skibbereen by James Mahony, 1847.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Skibbereen]], Ireland during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]], 1847 illustration by [[James Mahony]] for the ''[[Illustrated London News]]'']]

Because of the severity of famine, it was a chief concern for governments and other authorities. In pre-industrial Europe, preventing famine, and ensuring timely food supplies, was one of the chief concerns of many governments, although they were severely limited in their options due to limited levels of external trade, infrastructure, and bureaucracy generally too rudimentary to effect real relief. Most governments were concerned by famine because it could lead to [[revolt]] and other forms of social disruption.

By the mid-19th century and the onset of the [[Industrial Revolution]], it became possible for governments to alleviate the effects of famine through [[price controls]], large scale importation of food products from foreign markets, stockpiling, [[rationing]], regulation of production and [[charity (practice)|charity]]. The [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine of 1845]] in Ireland was one of the first famines to feature such intervention, although the government response was often lackluster. The initial response of the British government to the early phase of the famine was "prompt and relatively successful", according to [[F. S. L. Lyons]].<ref>{{citation |title=Ireland since the famine |first=Francis Stewart Leland |last=Lyons |publisher=Fontana |year=1973 |page=30}}</ref> Confronted by widespread crop failure in the autumn of 1845, Prime Minister [[Robert Peel|Sir Robert Peel]] purchased £100,000 worth of maize and [[cornmeal]] secretly from America. [[Barings Bank|Baring Brothers & Co]] initially acted as purchasing agents for the Prime Minister. The government hoped that they would not "stifle private enterprise" and that their actions would not act as a disincentive to local relief efforts. Due to weather conditions, the first shipment did not arrive in Ireland until the beginning of February 1846.{{sfn|Kinealy|1995|p=38}} The maize corn was then re-sold for a penny a pound.<ref>{{citation |title=Disraeli |last=Blake |first=Robert |lccn=67011837 |series=University paperbacks |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QpRnAAAAMAAJ |year=1967 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |page=221 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-date=16 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230916141521/https://books.google.com/books?id=QpRnAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1846, Peel moved to repeal the [[Corn Laws]], [[tariff]]s on grain which kept the price of bread artificially high. The famine situation worsened during 1846 and the repeal of the Corn Laws in that year did little to help the starving Irish; the measure split the Conservative Party, leading to the fall of Peel's ministry.{{sfn|Blake|1967|pp=221–241}} In March, Peel set up a programme of public works in Ireland.<ref>{{citation |title=The Great Hunger |first=Cecil |last=Woodham-Smith |year=1962 |pages=78–86}}</ref>

[[File:Famine in India Natives Waiting for Relief in Bangalore.jpg|thumb|left|upright|People waiting for famine relief in [[Bangalore]], India (from the ''[[Illustrated London News]]'', 1877)]]

Despite this promising start, the measures undertaken by Peel's successor, [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|Lord John Russell]], proved comparatively "inadequate" as the crisis deepened. Russell's ministry introduced public works projects, which by December 1846 employed some half million Irish and proved impossible to administer. The government was influenced by a [[laissez-faire]] belief that the market would provide the food needed. It halted government food and relief works, and turned to a mixture of "indoor" and "outdoor" direct relief; the former administered in [[workhouse]]s through the [[Irish Poor Laws|Poor Law]], the latter through [[soup kitchen]]s.<ref>{{citation |title=Ireland: History of a Nation |first=David |last=Ross |year=2002 |publisher=New Lanark: Geddes & Grosset |isbn=978-1-84205-164-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/irelandhistoryof0000ross/page/224 224, 311] |url=https://archive.org/details/irelandhistoryof0000ross/page/224 }}</ref>[[Image:Apocalypse vasnetsov.jpg|thumb|''[[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (painting)|Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]]'', an 1887 painting by Russian artist [[Viktor Vasnetsov]]. Depicted from left to right are Death, Famine, War, and Conquest.|294x294px]]

A systematic attempt at creating the necessary regulatory framework for dealing with famine was developed by the [[British Raj]] in the 1880s. In order to comprehensively address the issue of famine, the British created an Indian Famine commission to recommend steps that the government would be required to take in the event of a famine.<ref name="L. Brennan"/><ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Historical responses to famine|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/201392/famine/277562/|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online|access-date=8 October 2009}}</ref><ref name="Scales">{{cite journal |last1=Reza |first1=A. |last2=Tomczyk |first2=B. |last3=Aguayo |first3=V. M |last4=Zagre |first4=N. M |last5=Goumbi |first5=K. |last6=Blanton |first6=C. |last7=Talley |first7=L. |title=Retrospective determination of whether famine existed in Niger, 2005: two stage cluster survey |journal=BMJ |date=2 October 2008 |volume=337 |issue=oct02 1 |pages=a1622 |doi=10.1136/bmj.a1622 |pmid=18832413 |pmc=2658864}}
* {{cite journal |title=Retrospective determination of whether famine existed in Niger |journal=Field Exchange 35 |date=3 January 2009 |page=9 |url=https://www.ennonline.net/fex/35/retrospective |access-date=20 April 2019 |archive-date=20 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420123754/https://www.ennonline.net/fex/35/retrospective |url-status=live }}</ref> The Famine Commission issued a series of government guidelines and regulations on how to respond to famines and food shortages called the Famine Code. The famine code was also one of the first attempts to scientifically predict famine in order to mitigate its effects. These were finally passed into law in 1883 under [[George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon|Lord Ripon]].

The [[Indian Famine Codes|Code]] introduced the first [[famine scale]]: three levels of [[food insecurity]] were defined: near-scarcity, scarcity, and famine. "Scarcity" was defined as three successive years of [[crop failure]], [[crop yield]]s of one-third or one-half normal, and large populations in distress. "Famine" further included a rise in food prices above 140% of "normal", the movement of people in search of food, and widespread mortality.<ref name="L. Brennan">{{Citation |last=Brennan |first=L |year=1984 |contribution=The development of the India Famine Codes: personalities, policies and politics |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FoNS2fM8N0kC |editor-last=Currey |editor-first=Bruce |editor2-last=Hugo |editor2-first=Graeme |title=Famine as a geographical phenomenon |edition=Illustrated |series=GeoJournal library |publisher=Springer |volume=1 |pages=91–110 |isbn=978-90-277-1762-7}}</ref> The Commission identified that the loss of wages from lack of employment of agricultural labourers and artisans were the cause of famines. The Famine Code applied a strategy of generating employment for these sections of the population and relied on open-ended public works to do so.<ref>{{Citation |title=Hunger and Public Action |last1=Drèze |first1=Jean |last2=Sen |first2=Amartya Kumar |isbn=978-0-19-828365-2 |lccn=89025504 |series=Studies in Development Economics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OjCHQR-M0ocC |year=1991 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford; New York |author-link1=Jean Drèze |author-link2=Amartya Sen |page=98}}</ref>

===20th century===
During the 20th century, an estimated 70 to 120 million people died from [[List of famines|famines across the world]], of whom over half died in China, with an estimated 30 million dying during the [[Great Chinese Famine|famine of 1958–1961]],<ref name=IDSWorkingPaper>{{cite web|url=http://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/wp105.pdf|title=Famine in the Twentieth Century|publisher=IDS|date=16 February 1993|access-date=21 November 2011|archive-date=6 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406112312/http://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/wp105.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> up to 10 million in the [[Chinese famine of 1928–1930]], and over two million in the [[Chinese famine of 1942–1943]], and millions more lost in famines in North and East China. The USSR lost 8 million claimed by the [[Soviet famine of 1930–1933]], over a million in both the [[Soviet famine of 1946–1947]] and [[Siege of Leningrad]], the 5 million in the [[Russian famine of 1921–1922]], and others famines. Java suffered 2.5 million deaths under Japanese occupation during World War Two.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Huff|first=Gregg|date=2019|title=Causes and consequences of the Great Vietnam Famine, 1944–5|journal=The Economic History Review|language=en|volume=72|issue=1|pages=286–316|doi=10.1111/ehr.12741|issn=1468-0289|doi-access=free}}</ref> The other most notable famine of the century was the [[Bengal famine of 1943]], resulting both from the [[Japanese occupation of Burma]], resulting in an influx of refugees, and blocking Burmese grain imports and a failure of the [[Bengal Presidency#Provincial Autonomy|Bengali provincial Government]] to [[Indian Famine Codes|declare a famine]], and fund relief, the imposition of grain and transport embargoes by the neighbouring provincial administrations, to prevent their own stocks being transferred to Bengal, the failure to implement India wide rationing by the central Delhi authority, hoarding and profiteering by [[Merchant|merchants]], medieval land management practices, an Axis powers denial program that confiscated boats once used to transport grain, a Delhi administration that prioritised supplying, and offering medical treatment to the British Indian Army, War workers, and Civil servants, over the populace at large, incompetence and ignorance, and an [[Churchill war ministry|Imperial War Cabinet]] initially leaving the issue to the Colonial administration to resolve, than to the original local crop failures, and blights.<ref name=Sen>{{cite book |last= Sen |first=Amartya |title=Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVC9eqGkMr8C |year=1981a |publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-828463-5 |ref=CITEREFA. Sen1981a|at=Chapter 6: [https://books.google.com/books?id=FVC9eqGkMr8C&pg=PA55 "The Great Bengal Famine"]}}</ref>

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[[Bengal famine of 1943|India (1943–44)]], [[Dutch famine of 1944–45|the Netherlands (1944–45)]], [[Nigerian Civil War|Nigeria (1967–70)]], and an engraving of a woman and her children during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine in Ireland (1845–1849)]]
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A few of the great famines of the late 20th century were: the [[Biafra|Biafran famine]] in the 1960s, the [[Khmer Rouge]]-caused famine in Cambodia in the 1970s, the North Korean [[North Korean famine|famine of the 1990s]], and the Ethiopian [[1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia|famine of 1983–1985]]. Approximately 3 million died as a consequence of the [[Second Congo War]].

The Ethiopian famine was reported on television reports around the world, carrying footage of starving Ethiopians whose plight was centered around a feeding station near the town of [[Korem]]. This stimulated the first mass movements to end famine across the world.

[[BBC]] newsreader [[Michael Buerk]] gave moving commentary of the tragedy on 23 October 1984, which he described as a "biblical famine". This prompted the [[Band Aid (band)|Band Aid]] single, which was organized by [[Bob Geldof]] and featured more than 20 pop stars. The [[Live Aid]] concerts in [[London]] and [[Philadelphia]] raised even more funds for the cause. Hundreds of thousands of people died within one year as a result of the famine, but the publicity Live Aid generated encouraged Western nations to make available enough surplus grain to end the immediate hunger crisis in Africa.<ref name="History">{{Cite news|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/live-aid-concert|title=Live Aid concert|date=13 July 1985|work=HISTORY.com|access-date=14 September 2018|archive-date=5 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105152731/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/live-aid-concert|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some of the famines of the 20th century served the geopolitical purposes of governments, including traumatizing and replacing distrusted ethnic populations in strategically important regions, rendering regions vulnerable to invasion difficult to govern by an enemy power and shifting the burden of food shortage onto regions where the distress of the population posed a lesser risk of catastrophic regime de-legitimation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hickman|first=John|date=4 May 2019|title=Major famines as geopolitical strategies|journal=Comparative Strategy|volume=38|issue=3|pages=224–233|doi=10.1080/01495933.2019.1606663|s2cid=201340371|issn=0149-5933}}</ref>

===21st century===
{{See also|COVID-19 pandemic-related famines|2022–2023 food crises}}

Until 2017, worldwide deaths from famine had been falling dramatically. The [[World Peace Foundation]] reported that from the 1870s to the 1970s, great famines killed an average of 928,000 people a year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sites.tufts.edu/wpf/famine/|title=Famine Trends Dataset, Tables and Graphs – World Peace Foundation|website=sites.tufts.edu|date=14 April 2017|language=en-US|access-date=15 October 2017|archive-date=11 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611135749/https://sites.tufts.edu/wpf/famine/|url-status=live}}</ref> Since 1980, annual deaths had dropped to an average of 75,000, less than 10% of what they had been until the 1970s. That reduction was achieved despite the approximately 150,000 lives lost in the [[2011 East Africa drought|2011 Somalia famine]]. Yet in 2017, the UN officially declared famine had returned to Africa, with about 20 million people at risk of death from starvation in the northern part of Nigeria, in [[2017 South Sudan famine|South Sudan]], in [[Famine in Yemen|Yemen]], and in [[2017 Somalian drought|Somalia]].<ref name = "democracyFT"/>

On 20 April 2021, hundreds of aid organizations from around the world wrote an open letter to [[The Guardian]] newspaper, warning that millions of people in [[Yemen]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Ethiopia]], [[South Sudan]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Honduras]], [[Venezuela]], [[Nigeria]], [[Haiti]], [[Central African Republic]], [[Uganda]], [[Zimbabwe]] and [[Sudan]] faced starvation. Organizations including the International Council of Voluntary Agencies and the [[World Food Programme]] said: "Girls and boys, men and women, are being starved by conflict and violence; by inequality; by the impacts of climate change; by the loss of land, jobs of prospects; by a fight against Covid-19 that has left them even further behind". The groups warned that funding had dwindled, while money alone would not be enough by itself. Governments should step in to end conflicts and ensure humanitarian access, they said. "If no action is taken, lives will be lost. The responsibility to address this lies with states", they added.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/apr/20/millions-at-risk-of-famine-without-urgent-help-governments-warned|title='People are not starving, they're being starved': millions at risk of famine, NGOs warn|last=Johnson|first=Sarah|date=20 April 2021|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=28 April 2021|archive-date=27 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427191453/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/apr/20/millions-at-risk-of-famine-without-urgent-help-governments-warned|url-status=live}}</ref>

In November 2021, the [[World Food Programme]] reported that 45 million people were "teetering on the very edge of famine" in 43 countries and that the slightest shock would push them over the precipice. This number had risen from 42 million earlier in 2021, and from 27 million in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title=45 million people 'teetering on the edge of famine' globally – WFP |url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/494205-45-million-people-teetering-on-the-edge-of-famine-globally-wfp.html |access-date=25 November 2021 |work=[[Premium Times]] |date=8 November 2021 |archive-date=25 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125111924/https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/494205-45-million-people-teetering-on-the-edge-of-famine-globally-wfp.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The slightest shock — be it extreme weather linked to climate change, conflict, or the deadly interplay of both hunger drivers — could push tens of millions of people into irreversible peril, a prospect the agency had been warning of for more than a year. [[Afghanistan]] was becoming the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with the country's needs surpassing those of the other worst-hit countries — [[Ethiopia]], [[South Sudan]], [[Syria]] and even [[Yemen]].<ref>{{cite news |title=45 million people at risk of famine require urgent intervention. |url=https://www.wfp.org/stories/42-million-people-are-knocking-famines-door-and-us66-billion-could-save-them-now-0 |access-date=25 November 2021 |publisher=World Food Programme |date=8 November 2021 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308184623/https://www.wfp.org/stories/42-million-people-are-knocking-famines-door-and-us66-billion-could-save-them-now-0 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In August 2024, [[2024 famine in Sudan|famine]] was declared in Sudan,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Famine confirmed in Sudan's North Darfur, confirming UN agencies worst fears |url=https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/famine-confirmed-sudans-north-darfur-confirming-un-agencies-worst-fears |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250103010921/https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/famine-confirmed-sudans-north-darfur-confirming-un-agencies-worst-fears |archive-date=3 January 2025 |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=www.unicef.org |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> where several refugee camps, displaced by the ongoing [[Sudanese civil war (2023–present)|Sudanese civil war]], were found to be facing severe famine conditions. According to the [[Integrated Food Security Phase Classification|IPC]], over 24 million people are facing acute food insecurity, and a phase 5 famine was detected in multiple regions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-24 |title=Sudan's worsening famine: Conflict puts millions at risk {{!}} UN News |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158511 |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=news.un.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sudan: Acute Food Insecurity Situation - Updated Projections and FRC conclusions for October 2024 to May 2025 {{!}} IPC - Integrated Food Security Phase Classification |url=https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1159433/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=www.ipcinfo.org}}</ref> UN experts have accused the [[Sudanese Armed Forces]] (SAF) and the [[Rapid Support Forces]] (RSF) of using ‘starvation tactics’ against the civilians in the country, and have said “Never in modern history have so many people faced starvation and famine as in [[Sudan]] today”.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sudan faces one of the worst famines in decades, warn UN experts |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/10/sudan-faces-one-worst-famines-decades-warn-un-experts |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=OHCHR |language=en}}</ref>