Editing Famine (section)

===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]].