Famine Relief

Famine relief is an organized effort to reduce starvation in a region in which there is famine. A famine is a phenomenon in which a large proportion of the population of a region or country are so undernourished that death by starvation becomes increasingly common. In spite of the much greater technological and economic resources of the modern world, famine still strikes many parts of the world, mostly in the developing nations.

Famine is associated with naturally occurring crop failure and pestilence and artificially with war and genocide. In the past few decades, a more nuanced view focused on the economic and political circumstances leading to modern famine has emerged. Modern relief agencies categorize various gradations of famine according to a famine scale.

Many areas that suffered famines in the past have protected themselves through technological and social development. The first area in Europe to eliminate famine was the Netherlands, which saw its last peacetime famines in the early-17th century as it became a major economic power and established a complex political organization. A prominent economist on the subject, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, has noted that no functioning democracy has ever suffered a famine, although he admits that malnutrition can occur in a democracy and he does not consider mid 19th century Ireland to be a functioning democracy.

The bulk of the world’s food aid is given to people in areas where poverty is endemic; or to people who has suffered due to a natural disaster other than famine (such as the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami), or have lost their crops due to conflicts (such as in the Darfur region of Sudan). Only a small amount of food aid goes to people who are suffering as a direct consequence of famine.

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Famous quotes containing the words famine and/or relief:

    He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no harm shall touch you. In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes. At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the wild animals of the earth. For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the wild animals shall be at peace with you.
    Bible: Hebrew, Job 5:19-23.

    When shot, the deer seldom drops immediately, but runs sometimes for hours, the hunter in hot pursuit. This phase, known as ‘deer running,’ develops fleet runners, particularly in deer- jacking expeditions when the law is pursuing the hunters as swiftly as the hunters are pursuing the deer.
    —For the State of Maine, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)