Causes of Famine: Man-made vs Natural - Essay Example

What are the causes of famine? For many parts of the world, famine is caused by a series of social, political, and environmental factors that have led to widespread poverty and hunger. In some places such as Ethiopia, Somalia, and other countries of the Horn of Africa, harsh environmental conditions and political instability have paved the way for famines and droughts. Droughts occur due to environmental factors and can be caused by a lack of rain one year, soil degradation, or the forces of global warming.

Environmental catastrophes have been prevalent throughout world history and famine can be traced back to biblical stories as well as to the early annals of modern civilization. In this respect then, famine can be seen as inevitable and as a feature of our existence on earth. Although famine has existed since the dawn of time, there are also human-made factors accounting for the rise of famines and poverty throughout the world. We now turn to the causes of human-made famines in Somalia.The African continent, although seen by many as the cradle of humanity and endowed with many natural resources, is home to some of the poorest countries on the planet.

Many of these countries are beset by famine, arguably the greatest indicator of poverty known to mankind.  Seeking to explore poverty, malnutrition, and famine through an analysis of the political and economic situation in Somalia, one of Africa’s poorest countries, are there linkages between poverty and political instability? In the context of Somalia, it is apparent that political instability perpetuates economic stagnation and any attempts at resolving the poverty crisis in the region must address the political causes behind underdevelopment.

 The latter breeds poverty in Somalia which is demonstrated through widespread malnutrition, low life expectancies, and poor rankings in a variety of indicators of overall health. Endemic poverty is what drives violence and international piracy off the shores of Somalia (Spencer, 2008).