Editing Famine (section)

==Famine prevention==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2021}}
[[File:Famine in Algeria 1869.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|A starving child during the 1869 famine in [[Algeria]].]]
Relief technologies, including [[immunization]], improved [[public health]] infrastructure, general food rations and supplementary feeding for vulnerable children, has provided temporary mitigation to the mortality impact of famines, while leaving their economic consequences unchanged, and not solving the underlying issue of too large a regional population relative to food production capability. Humanitarian crises may also arise from [[genocide]] campaigns, [[civil war]]s, [[agro-terrorism]], [[refugee]] flows and episodes of extreme violence and state collapse, creating famine conditions among the affected populations.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com/en/technology-helps-countries-win-the-battle-against-hunger/ | title=Technology helps countries win the battle against hunger | website=Richard van Hooijdonk Blog }}</ref>

Despite repeated stated intentions by the world's leaders to end hunger and famine, famine remains a chronic threat in much of Africa, Eastern Europe, the Southeast, South Asia, and the Middle East. In July 2005, the [[Famine Early Warning Systems Network]] (FEWS NET) labelled Niger with emergency status, as well as Chad, Ethiopia, [[South Sudan]], Somalia and Zimbabwe. In January 2006, the United Nations [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] warned that 11 million people in Somalia, [[Kenya]], [[Djibouti]] and Ethiopia were in danger of starvation due to the combination of severe drought and military conflicts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000206/index.html|title=Millions of people are on the brink of starvation in the Horn of Africa|website=Fao.org|access-date=1 February 2016|archive-date=24 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524023730/http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000206/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2006, the most serious humanitarian crisis in Africa was in [[Sudan]]'s region [[Darfur]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://origins.osu.edu/article/worlds-worst-humanitarian-crisis-understanding-darfur-conflict | title='The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis': Understanding the Darfur Conflict | website=Origins }}</ref>

[[Frances Moore Lappé]], later co-founder of the [[Institute for Food and Development Policy]] (Food First) argued in ''[[Diet for a Small Planet]]'' (1971) that vegetarian diets can provide food for larger populations, with the same resources, compared to omnivorous diets.

Noting that modern famines are sometimes aggravated by misguided economic policies, political design to impoverish or marginalize certain populations, or acts of war, political economists have investigated the political conditions under which famine is prevented. Economist [[Amartya Sen]]{{refn|Sen is known for his assertion that famines do not occur in democracies in much the same way that [[Adam Smith]] is associated with the "[[invisible hand]]" and [[Joseph Schumpeter]] with "[[creative destruction]]".{{sfn|Massing|2003|p=1}}|group=note}} states that the liberal institutions that exist in India, including competitive elections and a free press, have played a major role in preventing famine in that country since independence. [[Alex de Waal]] has developed this theory to focus on the "political contract" between rulers and people that ensures famine prevention, noting the rarity of such political contracts in Africa, and the danger that international relief agencies will undermine such contracts through removing the locus of accountability for famines from national governments.

The demographic impacts of famine are sharp. Mortality is concentrated among children and the elderly. A consistent demographic fact is that in all recorded famines, male mortality exceeds female, even in those populations (such as northern India and Pakistan) where there is a male longevity advantage during normal times. Reasons for this may include greater female resilience under the pressure of [[malnutrition]], and possibly female's naturally higher percentage of body fat. Famine is also accompanied by lower fertility. Famines therefore leave the reproductive core of a population—adult women—lesser affected compared to other population categories, and post-famine periods are often characterized a "rebound" with increased births.

Even though the theories of [[Thomas Malthus]] would predict that famines reduce the size of the population commensurate with available food resources, in fact even the most severe famines have rarely dented population growth for more than a few years. The mortality in China in 1958–61, Bengal in 1943, and Ethiopia in 1983–85 was all made up by a growing population over just a few years. Of greater long-term demographic impact is emigration: Ireland was chiefly depopulated after the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|1840s famines]] by waves of emigration.

===Overall food production===
[[File:Food production per capita.svg|thumb|right]]
Globally, the amount of food produced per person has kept rising, despite a growing world population. A local crop failure does not cause a famine unless there is also a lack of money to buy food from elsewhere. A war or political oppression can also disrupt distribution of otherwise adequate global supplies.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/08/04/897804434/food-is-growing-more-plentiful-so-why-do-people-keep-warning-of-shortages |title=Food Is Growing More Plentiful, So Why Do People Keep Warning Of Shortages? |website=[[NPR]] |access-date=2 September 2020 |archive-date=3 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903234328/https://www.npr.org/2020/08/04/897804434/food-is-growing-more-plentiful-so-why-do-people-keep-warning-of-shortages |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Food security===
{{Main|Food security}}
Long term measures to improve food security, include investment in modern agriculture techniques, such as [[fertilizers]] and [[irrigation]],<ref name=obama>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/world/europe/09food.html "Obama enlists major powers to aid poor farmers with $15 billion"], ''The New York Times'', 9 July 2009, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108114039/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/world/europe/09food.html |date=8 November 2017 }}</ref> but can also include strategic national [[food storage]].

[[World Bank]] strictures restrict government subsidies for farmers, and increasing use of fertilizers is opposed by some environmental groups because of its unintended consequences: adverse effects on water supplies and habitat.<ref name=newyorktimes>[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/world/africa/02malawi.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 "Ending Famine, Simply by Ignoring the Experts"], ''The New York Times'', 2 December 2007, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108114042/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/world/africa/02malawi.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 |date=8 November 2017 }}</ref><ref name=atlantic>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jan/borlaug/borlaug.htm |title=Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity |magazine=The Atlantic |date=5 January 2016 |access-date=1 February 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Norman Borlaug.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Norman Borlaug]], father of the [[Green Revolution]], is often credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation.]]
The effort to bring modern agricultural techniques found in the [[Western world]], such as [[nitrogen]] [[fertilizers]] and [[pesticides]], to the [[Indian Sub-continent]], called the [[Green Revolution]], resulted in decreases in malnutrition similar to those seen earlier in Western nations. This was possible because of existing [[infrastructure]] and institutions that are in short supply in [[Africa]], such as a system of roads or public [[seed]] companies that made seeds available.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/world/africa/10rice.html|title=In Africa, Prosperity From Seeds Falls Short|date=10 October 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=7 February 2017|archive-date=27 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627094512/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/world/africa/10rice.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Supporting farmers in areas of food insecurity, through such measures as free or subsidized [[fertilizer]]s and [[seed]]s, increases food harvest and reduces food prices.<ref name=newyorktimes/><ref>{{cite journal |author=The Christian Science Monitor |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0618/p07s01-woaf.html |title=How a Kenyan village tripled its corn harvest |date=18 June 2008 |journal=The Christian Science Monitor |access-date=3 July 2008 |archive-date=19 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519063427/http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0618/p07s01-woaf.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The energy for the Green Revolution was provided by [[fossil fuels]] in the form of fertilizers (natural gas), pesticides (oil), and [[hydrocarbon]] fueled [[irrigation]].<ref>[http://www.energybulletin.net/281.html Eating Fossil Fuels]. [[EnergyBulletin]]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611071544/http://www.energybulletin.net/281.html |date=June 11, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Soaring fertilizer prices put global food security at risk |url=https://www.axios.com/2022/05/06/fertilizer-prices-food-securtiy |work=Axios |date=6 May 2022 |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-date=25 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525175453/https://www.axios.com/2022/05/06/fertilizer-prices-food-securtiy |url-status=live }}</ref> The development of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer has significantly supported global [[population growth]]&nbsp;— it has been estimated that almost half the people on the Earth are currently fed as a result of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Erisman |first1=Jan Willem |last2=Sutton |first2=Mark A. |last3=Galloway |first3=James |last4=Klimont |first4=Zbigniew |last5=Winiwarter |first5=Wilfried |title=How a century of ammonia synthesis changed the world|journal=[[Nature Geoscience]]|pages=636–639|date=October 2008|volume=1|doi=10.1038/ngeo325|url=http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/energy/Resources/Essays/ngeo325.pdf.xpdf|issue=10|bibcode=2008NatGe...1..636E|s2cid=94880859 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723223052/http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/energy/Resources/Essays/ngeo325.pdf.xpdf|archive-date=23 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Fears global energy crisis could lead to famine in vulnerable countries |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/20/global-energy-crisis-famine-production |work=The Guardian |date=20 October 2021 |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-date=9 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109213124/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/20/global-energy-crisis-famine-production |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[World Bank]] and some rich nations press nations that depend on them for aid to cut back or eliminate subsidized agricultural inputs such as fertilizer, in the name of [[privatization]] even as the United States and Europe extensively subsidized their own farmers.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4678592.stm|title=Zambia: Fertile but hungry|website=BBC News|access-date=1 February 2016|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019142738/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4678592.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Relief===
{{Main|Famine relief}}
There is a growing realization among aid groups that giving cash or cash vouchers instead of food is a cheaper, faster, and more efficient way to deliver help to the hungry, particularly in areas where food is available but unaffordable.<ref name=csmonitor>{{cite journal |author=The Christian Science Monitor |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0604/p01s02-woaf.html |title=UN aid debate: Give cash, not food? |date=4 June 2008 |journal=The Christian Science Monitor |access-date=14 August 2008 |archive-date=3 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703113649/http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0604/p01s02-woaf.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The United Nations [[World Food Programme]], the biggest non-governmental distributor of food, announced that it will begin distributing cash and vouchers instead of food in some areas, which [[Josette Sheeran]], WFP's former executive director, described as a "[[revolution]]" in food aid.<ref name=csmonitor/><ref name=wfp>{{cite web |url=http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2899 |title= WFP: Cash roll-out to help hunger hot spots &#124; WFP - Latest news - News - Press Releases|website=www.wfp.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212124012/http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2899 |archive-date=12 February 2009}}</ref> The aid agency [[Concern Worldwide]] is piloting a method through a mobile phone operator, Safaricom, which runs a money transfer program that allows cash to be sent from one part of the country to another.<ref name=csmonitor/>

However, for people in a [[drought]] living a long way from and with limited access to [[Marketplace|markets]], delivering food may be the most appropriate way to help.<ref name=csmonitor/> [[Fred Cuny]] stated that "the chances of saving lives at the outset of a relief operation are greatly reduced when food is imported. By the time it arrives in the country and gets to people, many will have died."<ref>Andrew S. Natsios (Administrator U.S. Agency for International Development)</ref> US Law{{which|date=October 2017}}, which requires buying food at home rather than where the hungry live, is inefficient because approximately half of what is spent goes for transport.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/160075 |title=Begley: Let Them Eat Micronutrients |website=Newsweek.com |access-date=1 February 2016 |date=20 September 2008 |archive-date=17 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717002543/http://www.newsweek.com/id/160075 |url-status=live }}</ref> Fred Cuny further pointed out "studies of every recent famine have shown that food was available in-country—though not always in the immediate food deficit area" and "even though by local standards the prices are too high for the poor to purchase it, it would usually be cheaper for a donor to buy the hoarded food at the inflated price than to import it from abroad."<ref>memorandum to former Representative Steve Solarz (United States, Democratic Party, New York)&nbsp;– July 1994</ref>

Deficient [[micronutrient]]s can be provided through [[food fortification|fortifying]] foods.<ref name=hiddenhunger>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/opinion/24kristof.html |url-access=subscription |first1=Nicholas |last1=Kristof |title=The Hidden Hunger|date=24 May 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=7 February 2017|archive-date=27 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127123907/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/opinion/24kristof.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Fortifying foods such as [[peanut butter]] sachets (see [[Plumpy'Nut]]) have revolutionized emergency feeding in humanitarian emergencies because they can be eaten directly from the packet, do not require refrigeration or mixing with scarce clean water, can be stored for years and, vitally, can be absorbed by extremely ill children.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8114750.stm |date=24 June 2009 |first1=Tatum |last1=Anderson |title=Firms target nutrition for the poor|publisher=BBC News|access-date=1 February 2016|archive-date=8 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108114041/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8114750.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:VOA Heinlein - Somali refugees September 2011 - 09.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Somali people|Somali]] boy receiving treatment for malnutrition at a health facility in Hilaweyn during the [[2011 East Africa drought|drought of 2011]].]]
[[World Health Organization|WHO]] and other sources recommend that malnourished children—and adults who also have [[diarrhea]]—drink rehydration solution, and continue to eat, in addition to antibiotics, and zinc supplements.<ref name=WHOtreatmentdiarrhoea2005>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2005/9241593180.pdf |title=The Treatment of Diarrhoea, a Manual for Physicians and Other Senior Health Workers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019172153/http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2005/9241593180.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2011 |website=World Health Organization |date=2005 |page=10 (14 in PDF) |quote="The aim is to give as much nutrient rich food as the child will accept. Most children with watery diarrhoea regain their appetite after dehydration is corrected, whereas those with bloody diarrhoea often eat poorly until the illness resolves. These children should be encouraged to resume normal feeding as soon as possible."}} See also "8. Management of Diarrhoea with Severe Malnutrition", pp. 22–24 (26–28 in PDF).</ref><ref name=BangladeshGuidelinesSeverelyMalnourished>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/SAM_Guideline.pdf |title=National Guidelines for the Management of Severely Malnourished Children in Bangladesh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019171912/http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/SAM_Guideline.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2011 |publisher=Institute of Public Health Nutrition, Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh |date=May 2008 |pages=21–25}}</ref><ref name=CDCcholeratraining>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=https://www.cdc.gov/haiticholera/pdf/chw_trainingmaterialsforcholera.pdf |title=Community Health Worker Training Materials for Cholera Prevention and Control |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020070810/http://www.cdc.gov/haiticholera/pdf/chw_trainingmaterialsforcholera.pdf |archive-date=20 October 2011 |website=CDC |date=17 November 2010 |page=7 |quote=Continue to breastfeed your baby if the baby has watery diarrhea, even when traveling to get treatment. Adults and older children should continue to eat frequently.}}</ref> There is a special oral rehydration solution called ReSoMal which has less sodium and more potassium than standard solution. However, if the diarrhea is severe, the standard solution is preferable as the person needs the extra sodium.<ref name=BangladeshGuidelinesSeverelyMalnourished/> Obviously, this is a judgment call best made by a physician, and using either solution is better than doing nothing. Zinc supplements often can help reduce the duration and severity of diarrhea, and Vitamin A can also be helpful.<ref name=time>{{cite magazine |last=Walt |first=Vivienne |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1914655,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808043255/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1914655,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 August 2009 |title=Diarrhea: The Great Zinc Breakthrough |magazine=Time |date=17 August 2009 |access-date=1 February 2016}}</ref> The World Health Organization underlines the importance of a person with diarrhea continuing to eat, with a 2005 publication for physicians stating: "Food should ''never'' be withheld and the child's usual foods should ''not'' be diluted. Breastfeeding should ''always'' be continued."<ref name=WHOtreatmentdiarrhoea2005/>

[[Ethiopia]] has been pioneering a program that has now become part of the World Bank's prescribed recipe for coping with a food crisis and had been seen by aid organizations as a model of how to best help hungry nations. Through the country's main food assistance program, the Productive Safety Net Program, Ethiopia has been giving rural residents who are chronically short of food, a chance to work for food or cash. Foreign aid organizations like the World Food Program were then able to buy food locally from surplus areas to distribute in areas with a shortage of food.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Nicholas Benequista |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0506/p01s06-woaf.html?page=2 |title=Ethiopia: A model of African food aid is now in trouble |date=6 May 2008 |journal=The Christian Science Monitor |access-date=14 August 2008 |archive-date=5 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705020347/http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0506/p01s06-woaf.html?page=2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Green Revolution]] was widely viewed as an answer to famine in the 1970s and 1980s. Between 1950 and 1984, hybrid strains of high-yielding crops transformed agriculture around the globe and world grain production increased by 250%.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6496585.stm |date=29 March 2007 |title=Special Reports&nbsp;– The limits of a Green Revolution?|publisher=BBC News|access-date=1 February 2016|archive-date=28 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728055441/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6496585.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Some{{who|date=August 2013}} criticize the process, stating that these new high-yielding crops require more chemical [[fertilizer]]s and [[pesticide]]s, which can harm the environment.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pimentel|first=David|date=September 1996|title=Green revolution agriculture and chemical hazards |bibcode-access=free |journal=[[Science of the Total Environment]]|volume=188|pages=S86–S98|doi=10.1016/0048-9697(96)05280-1|pmid=8966546|bibcode=1996ScTEn.188S..86P|via=Elsevier Science Direct|doi-access=free}}</ref> Although these high-yielding crops make it technically possible to feed more people, there are indications that regional food production has peaked in many world sectors, due to certain strategies associated with intensive agriculture such as [[groundwater]] [[overdrafting]] and overuse of [[pesticide]]s and other [[agrochemical|agricultural chemicals]].

===Levels of food insecurity===
{{Main|Famine scales}}
[[File:Oxfam East Africa - A mass grave for children in Dadaab.jpg|thumb|Freshly-dug graves for child victims of the [[2011 East Africa drought]], [[Dadaab]] refugee camp, [[Kenya]]]]
In modern times, local and political governments and [[non-governmental organization]]s that deliver famine relief have limited resources with which to address the multiple situations of food insecurity that are occurring simultaneously. Various methods of categorizing the gradations of food security have thus been used in order to most efficiently allocate food relief. One of the earliest were the [[Indian Famine Codes]] devised by the British in the 1880s. The Codes listed three stages of food insecurity: near-scarcity, scarcity and famine, and were highly influential in the creation of subsequent famine warning or measurement systems. The early warning system developed to monitor the region inhabited by the [[Turkana people]] in northern Kenya also has three levels, but links each stage to a pre-planned response to mitigate the crisis and prevent its deterioration

The experiences of famine relief organizations throughout the world over the 1980s and 1990s resulted in at least two major developments: the "livelihoods approach" and the increased use of nutrition indicators to determine the severity of a crisis. Individuals and groups in food stressful situations will attempt to cope by rationing consumption, finding alternative means to supplement income, etc., before taking desperate measures, such as selling off plots of [[agriculture|agricultural]] land. When all means of self-support are exhausted, the affected population begins to migrate in search of food or fall victim to outright mass [[starvation]]. Famine may thus be viewed partially as a social phenomenon, involving [[Market (economics)|markets]], the price of food, and social support structures. A second lesson drawn was the increased use of rapid nutrition assessments, in particular of children, to give a quantitative measure of the famine's severity.

Since 2003, many of the most important organizations in famine relief, such as the [[World Food Programme]] and the [[U.S. Agency for International Development]], have adopted a five-level scale measuring intensity and magnitude. The intensity scale uses both livelihoods' measures and measurements of mortality and child malnutrition to categorize a situation as food secure, food insecure, food crisis, famine, severe famine, and extreme famine. The number of deaths determines the magnitude designation, with under 1000 fatalities defining a "minor famine" and a "catastrophic famine" resulting in over 1,000,000 deaths.