Definition of Famine and Countries Under the Threat

Famine is defined as an extreme scarcity of food, as well as widespread, usually life-threatening hunger, manifested in malnutrition and loss of life due to starvation and infectious disease. In other words, a famine is a situation where one in five households experience “an extreme lack of food and other basic needs where starvation, death, and destitution are evident.” (Oxfam, 2018) They can only access “one or two of 12 food groups”, so they must be eating very small amounts of basic grains with little nutritional value. They can’t access at least 4 litres of safe, clean water per person, per day and typically have no resources to sustain them in the long run. More than 30 percent of people are “acutely malnourished”.

Without a balanced diet enough of the right foods, such as vegetables, meats or lentils, their bodies have reduced to a very low weight and are in serious danger of malnutrition and completely shutting down. Two out of every 10,000 people die from starvation and the community is losing more than four out of 10,000 children every day. These conditions describe the most severe case of prolonged hunger and food scarcity, Phase 5, under a set of criteria known as the “Integrated Food Security Phase Classification” (IPC), developed by the United Nations. The IPC tracks and monitors the availability of food for people in various countries and aids governments and organizations in foreseeing and avoiding such a crisis. Due to this, famines have become more avoidable now than ever before as a combination of public action, market forces, and food aid tends to reduce death rates.

The threat of famine is higher in countries with chronic droughts, floods, earthquakes, conflict or disease outbreaks, and some still believe that overpopulation or population imbalances causes famine. However there are certain factors which increase a regions vulnerability to famine; poverty, weak social and physical infrastructure (in particular lack of transport infrastructure), a weak and unprepared government, and a relatively closed political regime. Also, inflation on prices in food markets, caused by panic buying and price speculation, leads to marginalising poverty-stricken countries to afford the food sold. All these links tie into the concept of food security. If a country has food security, it means that there is food available to meet the population’s needs. Any previously mentioned factors, can in turn affect food security and cause a phenomenon so profound, known as livelihood shock. In this situation, a region is not able to recover quickly enough which could lead to malnutrition and even famine.

The duration of a famine differs from country to country and is determined by its causes and the country’s ability to recognize the severity and act quickly. Once a government declares a famine, it gives policy framers the chance to question their economic policies focused on poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods. A developed country usually has strong policies in place in such unexpected events to protect the population, however a developing or less economically developed country struggles to provide security to the population, and sustain a stable economy, due to their weak economic policies and lack of resources. It also allows organisations to respond and urgently seek funds, before it’s too late. According to UNICEF Australia, “Above all, the word “famine” signals one message to the world: we have a small window to prevent a massive loss of life.”

By this definition, the twentieth century has seen some of the worst famines in most parts of the world. China experienced a famine in 1958 – 1962, killing and leaving millions of people on the brink of starvation.