Topic 4
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Imaging Famine
What is a famine?- not absence of food but availability of food Sen ‘entitlement theory’ and idea of no famine whether there is democracy and a free press What really causes a famine? Not just drought, flood, earthquake or other “natural disasters”. What is role of man – and particularly of governments or political/military movements? Basic theory is that it is access to food during times of drought or other shortage – access denied by war or for political reasons, neglect, governments not helping poor by providing free or cheap food when they cannot pay.
Irish Famine – hunger started by potato blight but plenty of food for English and they refused to reduce corn tariffs to provide enough food for the poor. USSR - Famine under Stalin collectivisation – peasants killed livestock and refused to plant crops as Stalin used force to collectivize farms. Bengal Famine 1943 – food shortages worsened by war and neglect by British authorities. Chinese Famine - Mao’s collectivization and forced food requisitioning to support industrialization. Belief in own propaganda and unwillingness to accept and then act on signs that harvest was poor million died, some critics of the government say 40million.
Decline in entitlement to food Problem is food availability/distribution not production (see Bangladesh famine of 1974 when available food went to army, civil service and urban groups and not starving in rural areas) Different from malnutrition
No famines happen in countries where there is a free press and democracy.free press Why is this? China vs India post 1949
Blame the weather - ‘drought not a famine’ Social and political causes – authoritarianism, lack of free press. Role of war / deliberate famines? Starve groups to depopulate or deprive armed groups of food and local support. As Keen (Complex Emergencies, p 115) says – “Famines, then, need to be understood as resulting from the interaction of diverse strategies and not simply as a technical ‘deficit’ with a technical solution.”
Michael Buerk – famine becomes headline news when he and Mo Amin get to Korem and film dying and huge camp for the starving. Earlier film from south, where there was starvation not effective because of lush, green vegetation and smaller numbers Michael Buerk Explanation? NGOs reporting famine at end of Donor governments and media not interested. Opposed aid to pro-Marxist government – no dramatic pictures or accounts Date of famine ? , but in West it is always said to be Little or no reporting of effects of resettlement programme, war in Tigre and Eritrea and denial of food to starving in Tigre and surrounding areas for military and political reasons. ,00 died in resettlement programme – as many as were helped by relief aid to camps like Korem (de Waal Famine Crimes and Keen Complex Emergencies)
News values in reporting famine – often reported late because early signs not important enough by news values of international/Western media. May be hidden by local media in affected state. Famine breaks out? Yet malnutrition always present. Up to a point – shortages may happen but not that suddenly unless floods, locusts or other natural disasters wipe out crops quickly and unexpectedly. Famine story – ‘discovered’ and reported as an event – not a long term and complex process
Political pressure from local coverage Weaker pressure from global reporting, no democratic influence – except when global becomes local 1984 Ethiopian famine. Sometimes no reporting – Chinese description of ‘three difficult years’ – though later Lio Shaoqui (purged a few years later in cultural revolution) said it was 3/10 natural disaster, 7/10 human error. Those who tried to publicize the famine in 1959 within Party leadership bodies were attacked as defeatist and silenced. Lack of reliable figures prevented planning and Party emphasis on Great Leap Forward and industrialising on the backs of peasant labour meant that some warnings were ignored. The plan was more important than a few dead peasants.