Discuss the Causes and Consequences of Periodic Famine

Discuss the causes and consequences of periodic famine

(15 marks- 15-jan2012)

Periodic famine is the long term extreme scarcity of food which can in the long term result to droughts and malnutrition of the population. There are combinations of factors that result in famine, not just one. Examples are; the high rise inflation of food costs where the poor cannot find the money to provide enough food for their families. The ever growing population as they do not have the education to stop giving birth so the population numbers due increase however there is the fact of war and conflict which can stop the supplies being brought through the countries boarders in aid of their suffering. An example of this is Ethiopia where they suffer with this problem, and the infrastructure doesn’t make things any easier. Most famines result from a combination of natural events and human error. However they are not always widespread but can be localised and can only affect one social class which would be the people living in poverty I areas that are affected by famine.

In Ethiopia, the famines of 1974 and 1984-1985 were caused respectively by the misguided policies of Haile Selassie and of Mengistu who were the countries leaders at the time. These policies lead to the decline in food availability is said to be the result of deterioration in the entitlements of certain sectors of society. Poorer people have limited access to food as a consequence of weaker purchasing power and bargaining powers. They have low status, menial occupations and limited land ownership. The limited land ownership leads to the consequences as many of them had to sell their families assets, which for most people was their land where they used to grow their own food. And now they have to eat foods that they would not normally eat such as pork or other animals that they would not normally think of as food. Lastly they would not survive without the international aid efforts that some of the countries in Europe help. However the problem that occurs often is that the aid gets to the country to late so many people have had to suffer and die as a result of this.