Famines Sources The World Food Problem 2009 Leathers

Famines Sources: The World Food Problem (2009, Leathers and Foster) World Hunger 12 Myths (1998, Lappe, Collins, and Rossett)

Irish Potato Famine • 1845 -1849 potato blight • 1 million died of starvation – 1. 5 million emigrated • Ireland a colony of England – Exported wheat and beef to England – Peasants had small plots of potatoes • Famine: wheat and beef still exported – Peasants did not own the land – Starved in the midst of plenty • They did not own • Europe also had blight but starvation only in Ireland http: //www. gormanfamilytree. com/images/famine 2. jpg – British policies

British Army enforced food export during Irish potato famine http: //www. irishholocaust. org/1024 -map. gif/1024 -map-full. jpg

Great Famine, India 1876 -8 • India a British Colony • British policies: – Land converted to British plantations – Exports of crops to Europe – Taxed India to support British wars – Price of food rose • Drought decreased production • British response: – Inaction, discouraged famine relief • Thought to be too expensive • Thought relief would encourage shirking of Indian workers • Result: 5 million starved to death http: //www. sott. net/signs/images/indian_family. jpg http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Great_Famine_of_1876%E 2%80%9378 http: //www. nationmaster. com/encyclopedia/Famine-in-India

Colonial Economic System Empire Conquest Wealth, Taxes Food, Resources Colonies

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

Bangladesh Famine, 1974 • 100, 000 died • Blamed on floods http: //www. greenpeace. org. uk/files/images/migrated/Multimedia. Files/Live/Image/4422. jpg that destroyed crops • Actually never a shortage of food • Wealthy farmers hoarded food • Poor could not afford to buy food

Sub-Saharan Africa (Sahel) • Recurring Famines 70 s, 80 s • Blamed on Drought – But grow enough to feed everybody • Exports continued: cotton, http: //filipspagnoli. files. wordpress. com/2008/05/famine. jpg vegetables, peanuts • Poor, indebted farmers suffer most • Desertification a problem • Aid supported export crops

Conflicts in Africa

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 http: //i. timeinc. net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1987/1101871221_40 0. jpg – huge army reduced numbers of farm workers • 800, 000 relocated

Rwanda • 1990 s: Genocide, civil war, starving refugees • Country dependent on coffee exports: – prices dropped plunging economy into crisis • World Bank, IMF “structural Rwanda refugees http: //cache. daylife. com/imageserve/0 fel 9 bt 89 f 5 XY/610 x. jpg adjustment” • doubled number in poverty • Rebels attacked most fertile region • Ethnic tensions left over from colonialism exploded – 500, 000 killed: Genocide • Crop production dropped – economy collapsed

http: //www. robrogers. com/cartoons/2005/images/030305%20 Hotel%20 Rwanda. gif

Sudan • Rebellion in Darfur starting 2003 – Region size of France • Farming villages bombed – by Sudan government – To fight rebels • Ethnic cleansing Refugees in Darfur, Sudan http: //www. unitedhumanrights. org/sudan_genocide_in_sudan. php – by Pro-Arab militia (Janjaweed) • kill, rape, burn – Genocide? • 2. 5 million refugees – 200, 000 - 450, 000 dead • Many from starvation

Conflicts and Poverty http: //www. cybertext. net. au/student 07_inet__may/other. Conferences/Poverty_conflict_map. jpg

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 Ethiopia 1980 http: //www. faqs. org/nutrition/images/nwaz_02_img 0201. jpg • Hunger used as a weapon

Ukraine Famine • Policy: Soviet Union established collective farms in 1930 s • Policy: Quotas set for farm production • Policy: Food seized from farms to make quotas • 6 -8 million Ukrainians died 1932 -1933 http: //www. gnosticliberationfront. com/Image 14. jpg

Nazi Holocaust • Targeted Jews in Europe for annihilation – Rounded up in cities – All possessions taken – Sent to work/death camps • Starvation a matter of policy • 6 Million Jews killed

Great Leap Forward Famine 1959 -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 Propaganda Poster http: //www. wellesley. edu/Polisci/wj/China. Links-New/Images-China. Links 1 -07/glf. jpg low production • 30 million people died

Great Leap Forward Famine Government Totalitarian Economy Collective Farms Ideology Communism

North Korean Famine • 1990 s – 500, 000 - 3 Million died of starvation http: //www. nkfreedom. org/fileadmin/Image_Archive/Photo_2 girls. jpg – 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 1990 s – Industrial base too weak to afford grain imports – Military: • 1. 2 million soldiers • ¼ N. Korean budget

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 Liberia refugee children http: //www. americanphotojournalist. com/News/145 -8. jpg prices