The Great Irish Famine and Recent Famines of Africa and Asia - Essay Example

Critically discuss the similarities and differences between the Great Irish Famine and recent famines of Africa and Asia Fatima Hasan 27 April Before delving into a discussion regarding the Great Irish famine and the recent famines of Africa and Asia, we must first acquaint ourselves with key aspects regarding famines. The aspects that need to be looked at are: the various definitions of famine, the factors that cause famines to occur, what the consequences of famine are as well as how we can deal with famines or minimize the destruction caused by them. Differing Definitions Field (1993) describes famines as a failure on the part of the food distribution system. He argues that this in turn leads to starvation, death and disease, hence culminating in famine. This definition focuses on the failure of that particular region to deal with the symptoms of famine. It also focuses on the role played by the market; accounting for changes in market demands which hence impacts what happens in the local markets. Many of these regions hit by famines are particularly sensitive to world prices, mostly because they themselves are very small and so cannot influence prices. What is lacking in this definition however is that it does not explain clearly that famine is the end product of a long process whereby people slowly lose access to food. Another aspect lacking in this definition is that it does not explain the breakdown of social support systems, where reciprocity and goodwill slowly start to disappear under the increasingly stressful system. While high death rates are what mark a famine, the increased disunity and societal collapse are inevitable end results of this phenomenon. Atkins (2009) discusses how difficult it is to define the term famine. In order to measure this phenomenon, he argues that the intensity of it would be looked at. Devereux (1998) looks at two other perspectives on what famine is. One view sees famine as a natural disaster; the result is a lack of food and the cause is failed policy measures by the state or market interventions that were unable to achieve the purpose it had intended. The other definition does not include famine as a natural occurrence. Rather, it sees famine as resulting from successful policy measures by the state – it views the state as essentially repressive and as wanting to keep a tight control over its population. Also, this view on famine blames the international community as being opportunistic and apathetic, helping only when an internal benefit to itself is seen. The former definition is an outsider perspective, arguing that the cause of famine lies in the food distribution system and has nothing to do with repressive political regimes or colonialism. The benefit of such an approach is that it is holistic; it looks at the different aspects of climate, population, market and policies, analyzing all of them separately, recognizing the fact that it is multiple factors that are causing famines to occur. However, a major flaw with this approach is that because the root cause is seen to lie in the food distribution system, the solutions to the problem are also seen only in terms of technical solutions. This includes changes in agricultural policies, interventions in markets and improvements in the food distribution system. However, the criticism of this is that by arguing that famine is a cause of poverty, the blame is neatly shifted on to the poor, as if they are in some way responsible for the phenomenon occurring. Another implication of this approach is that the best way to tackle famine is for the local government to follow policy measures as laid out by the IMF, completely disregarding the fact that many a times it is these very policies that marginalize the poor and lead to their increased poverty. Another major flaw in the above approach is that it does not give due consideration to the fact that famines in Africa have now changed in nature, from being previously only partially influenced by politics, to now being dominated by politics to a very large extent. As we shall see in the following paper, there are many other aspects that are critical factors in causing famines to occur, and if we ignore these factors we will not be able to come up with a viable long term solution in terms of dealing with this phenomenon. Causes Watts and Bohle (1993) discuss the direct links that famine has with poverty. They argue that in many parts of the globe, especially areas such as the Sub Saharan Africa, there has been an increase in the food shortage; the intensity of food shortage has increased by a massive amount. The links that they draw for this phenomenon is poverty and hunger, and how these three aspects – poverty, hunger and famine are inextricably linked. Tory (1986) makes an important point, arguing that in recent times, the term ‘natural disaster’ is slowly fading from our language; we have come to realize how misleading it can be to assume that famines are natural disasters because they are not. Deep studies conducted on droughts have revealed that the main cause is the poverty caused by society while climatic conditions merely act to further the destruction. Lucas (1990) argues vehemently against the idea that famines are caused by ‘natural’ factors, saying that this is a very big misunderstanding and it clouds our judgment on what our moral obligations and responsibilities are towards this phenomenon. Thus, what we believe to be the cause of these famines is what will dictate our sense of duty in terms of helping out. It is hence essential, he believes, that we understand that famines are not simply natural but a result of multiple factors, many of which are not environmental. Baro and Deubel (2006) when analyzing famines that have occurred in Africa, argue that we must move beyond just wanting to help with the after effects of food shortage, and trying to provide relief, and instead focus on the root causes for why these famines are happening and try to eliminate these root causes. They argue that combined effort is needed on the part of the African government, the international community and civil society so that a long term approach is taken which takes into account the lived experiences of the famine victims and tries to use local expertise as well as the support of the African communities at large to be able to deal with this critical issue. Ball (1976) that when trying to determine viable causes of famines occurring Africa, we must give due consideration to political and economic factors; it is important to do this, as they are important reasons why famines are occurring and they are factors that are often ignored or marginalized, with academics and government officials continuing to focus on natural factors as being the cause of famines. When discussing non natural factors, aspects such as colonialism are discussed. Canale (1964) discusses how many of the famines that have occurred in Africa have been due to colonial policies in that region. Aspects such as the unequal trade between Africa and Europe are discussed, as is the fact that capitalist modes of production were not seen as profitable and hence were not implemented, instead using exploitative methods that resulted in snatching the African lands of the ability to produce and remain sustainable. Meillassoux (1974) analyzes the Sahel famine, and argues that while it is true that drought is indeed the work of nature, famine is not; famine is a result of a misuse of the land, it is the product of exploitative policy measures taken in the region for the benefit of the exploiter. This famine can however provide us with a lesson on what to do and how to deal with future famines. The Sahel famine makes us realize that new modes of agricultural production need to be implemented and it needs to sustainable as well. One of the most important explanations given for explaining famines is the dependency explanation. This covers both political dependency and economic dependency. One such way of explaining this dependency could be through the kind of policies taken by colonial regimes. To put it simply, in the process of colonial rule, when there is a greater power over the local government, that entire nation and its people become dependent on that greater power, which in turn exploits them, makes them produce goods and services for them, squeezes the life out of their lands and pays them well below their production, hence making them entirely dependent on the market the policies of such colonial regimes. Tory (1986) argues that such dependency explanations can be limited because they exclude other critical element that are leading up to famines. Vaughan (1987) explores the patterns that were followed in African areas that were colonized, and uses this exploration to better understand the prevailing conditions of persistent food shortage occurring in Africa. He argues that Africans were given the choice of either producing crops to be exported or work in European owned industries; both had the impact of making the locals dependent on this system, this market structure and most importantly, on the ruling power. Such an explanation has been widely used to explain current food shortages in modern day Africa. In fact, research shows that when analyzing cases of local famines in Africa, such an explanation proved helpful in better understanding prevailing conditions. Watts (1983) has studied the Nigerian famine and has used the above as a way to analyze the prevailing conditions in the region. Most importantly, he argues that pre-colonial Africa was adequate in terms of dealing with food shortage because it was adaptive and supportive. He further explains this; detailing the agricultural patterns of food production they had established example ways of fighting droughts in response to environmental changes. Further, he elaborates on the kind of social system that they had in place in pre colonial times that helped them in dealing with times of food shortage. This includes establishment of social safety networks as well as the concept of giving and taking gifts, hence creating and maintaining reciprocity as central to relationships amongst tribes and families. There are critiques to such an approach however, with some arguing that it would be unfair to romanticize the pre colonial Africa; it is important to recognize that even then, food shortage was a very much real phenomenon faced by the people. In fact, in some ways the after effects of a famine were worse back then because relief efforts aimed at famine struck areas were not so mobile and could not act a s fast as they do now. Dealing with famines We now move to a critically important aspect in this article: the ways that are being devised to try to deal effectively with the phenomenon of famine. There are some who adopt a very pessimistic approach, arguing that famine is embedded in ‘natural’ aspects and hence little can be done about it. There are others who feel there is a lot that can be done in terms of prevention and protection against this calamity. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) is used to collect data and statistics, conduct research and devise policies for the purpose of helping to eradicate food insecurity and malnutrition. Development agencies make use of the statistics provided by FAO and use them to devise policies that would help. Grigg (1991) discusses aspects such as early warning systems for famines, while Moseley and Logan (2001) discuss two particular early warning systems being installed in Zimbabwe and analyze their weaknesses and strengths. Buchanan-Smith and Downing (1992) discuss how the optimism surrounding efforts to curb famine in Africa was dashed after the drought that hit Southern Africa in 1991-1992. Watts (1991) explores in depth the consequences of famine in Africa, exploring the entitlement approach to starvation. He discusses how in contemporary times, famines are a disaster that can be prevented now more than any other time in history. Chattopadhyay (2000) examines the situation in Zimbabwe, where despite the fact that there is surplus food, food shortage still persists. Like Watts, he discusses the entitlements theory of famine, and discusses Zimbabwe’s structural food program and its effectiveness. One approach to studying the situation in Zimbabwe assumes that starvation is a cause of declining availability of food. The problem with such an approach is that it has the underlying assumption that as long as abundant food is available, starvation will not occur, which is obviously true. Such an approach is unable to explain why food shortage would prevail even in conditions of abundant food supply, like the case is in Zimbabwe. A more plausible explanation is the entitlement theory. This theory explains how a person is reduced to starvation if such a change occurs in his entitlements that he is unable to afford enough food. Entitlement here can refer to a decrease in ones wages or an increase in the prices of goods or services. Thus, we need to carefully look at economic factors and analyze the effect that they have on demand for food. The benefits of this theory is that it recognizes that famine is a concept that is caused by many and varied factors – it puts prime emphasis on the fact that famine is the increasing pace with which food intake is reduced. This is why the entitlement explanation has weight age. Also important to note is that famine and endemic hunger are seen as two separate factors, both perhaps requiring different policy measures to curb the phenomenon. He explains how Zimbabwe has been successful in dealing with famine but not in dealing with endemic hunger. Lawrence, Snyder and Szeftel (1985) analyze the spending by the African government, the role of the state and citizens, agricultural policy measures taken by the African government, international contribution in this regard, as well as state intervention by the government in such matters pertaining to agricultural policies; all this is done in order to critically asses the governments role in this regard and what more could be done. Economic failures in all sectors are looked at; research found that industrial production today is lower in Africa than it was in the 1970s. When discussing solutions, it is emphasized that long term solutions need to be looked at; only then will a viable and sustainable policy be made. Researchers find that agencies working on famine tend to focus on short term relief efforts; while this too is important we must not forget that the bigger aim is to rid the area of this phenomenon completely and this will only happen if we think of long term solutions. It is observed however that the mass of peasants are dominated by a state whose aim is not to give a voice to these people but rather to incorporate these people into a system of production that serves the larger and more ambitious aims of the state. The success with which long term policies can be incorporated to help out these peasants will depend to a large extent on the kind of control of their lives they are able to maintain for themselves. So far the success stories for such emancipation for peasant’s remains low; even when you find agencies that are working for the increased participation of peasants; they have been perceived as threats by the government and have hence closed down. While discussing possible solutions, war in Africa is also included because of its impact on efforts to help solve the problem of famine. It is obvious that sustaining production in an area is not going to be possible if that area is being subjected to bombs and military coups; furthermore, relief efforts too will be impacted as it is difficult to send food supplies to an area where supply lines are blocked. The impact of the international community is discussed; its role played in response to famines that have occurred in Africa and have been occurring. Its observed that the international community always responds to the crisis too late, and intervenes only when it sees that it has something to gain from the intervention. Such gains can include international recognition, complete with television coverage of a starving population being given relief in the form of food packages by the generous donor country. Such opportunism is seen as hindering efforts at coming up with long term solutions; too much emphasis is put by such countries on dealing with short term problems. What is required, however, is a holistic approach that looks critically at the role of the state, the impact that colonialism has had on the state, the concept of dependency and the impact it has, the ‘natural’ as well as the technical aspects that surround the region facing famine – only if all these aspects are considered in a holistic manner can we come close to trying to deal with the problem of famine effectively. Lucas (1990) looks at two differing causes of famine, and these lead to differing beliefs regarding how best to tackle the problem of famine. Develop mentalists believe that the cause of famine is the decline in availability of food; thus the policy measures they believe should be implemented would focus on agricultural policies and their restructuring. Particular policy measures that would be focused on would include enhanced technologies, plans for irrigation schemes, better farming techniques and the procurement of high yielding varieties. These policy measures were not without their problems. The purchase of many of these technologies was too expensive for many poor farmers and the increased emphasis on cash crops meant that scare land and water resources were diverted to this purpose but at the expense of indigenous food. Neo Malthusians on the other hand, disagree with developmentalits, arguing that it is not the scarce food that is available for people that is the problem, that is, the supply of food is not the problem but the demand is. The excessive demand, caused by the over population has put a strain on the already scarce resources. The argument is that if an areas population exceeds the resources that that area has, then the result will be famine and food shortage. Those taking this line of approach argue that those areas struck by famine should not be helped out in terms of finances or food packages unless they agree to curb their population and put a stop to the ever increasing growth. Lucas (1990) finds both approaches to be lacking; we need to realize that both environmental conditions and the control of population are things that are outside direct human control. Another fact that both theories are unable to account for is the fact that three major famines that occurred namely the Great Irish Potato famine of 1848, Bengal in the 1940s and Ethiopia in 1974 were areas where food export took place. Lucas (1990) has found further flaws in both theories. With respects to the first theory, he found that there is no direct correlation between decreased food supplies leading to a famine; research in Ethiopia found that even in times of decreased food supplies, famine did not occur. With regards to the second theory, again, a flaw is found because research in Ethiopia shows that even when population levels are high, famine does not occur; however there are times when population levels are low but famine nonetheless occurs. What the above two researches do is that they prove that no one fixed factor can be said to cause famine and hence a one dimensional way of dealing with the problem would not be effective. Walker (2005) makes it very clear that in terms of coming up with a viable solution to the problem, there is no one single method or way that we can follow in order to improve conditions in Africa. He first establishes that indigenous people are able to live in areas where it has not rained in many years. Yet, these people have discovered ways in which to survive and adapt to this environment. Thus, we must realize that although drought could lead to conditions of famine, it is not the primary cause; there must be other reasons. Also, Anbinder (2001) examines in detail, the role that Palmerston’s emigration program played in the after effects of the famine. He argues that although this program has been highly criticized by many, detailed analysis of the program has not been looked at. Moseley (2002) discusses how organizations dealing with famine early warning should devote more attention to the food crisis situation in African cities; what happens is that too much emphasis is put on rural areas, and this is done at a considerable loss to the urban population. He argues how impacts of structural programs have been such that now, many of the incomes in rural areas are actually higher than on urban areas. He thus takes our focus to an issue that has not been considered before, that is, the neglect of cities facing famines because of the highlighted emphasis on short term poverty alleviation plans in rural areas. Comparison of the Great Irish Famine and famines in Africa and Asia Now that have looked at the crucial aspects regarding famines - discussed questions regarding the different definitions of the term and the debates about what factors cause famines (especially the debate of those saying it is due to natural factors versus those who argue it is due to man made factors such as colonialism, repressive regimes, misuse of land) we can now turn our discussion to a direct comparison of the Great Irish Famine and other famines that have occurred in Africa and Asia. It is important to note however, that famines taking place in Africa and Asia differ on many grounds and cannot be said to have the same circumstances surrounding them in terms of causes of the famine, its consequences and its impact on the people. Furthermore, the history of each area even within Africa is unique to that place and we can not generalize for it all. However, for the sake of comparison we will treat famines occurring in different areas of Africa in terms of what factors they all have in common. Exceptions will obviously exist which is something we must keep in mind. The most important difference is that while after the Great Irish Famine, there was a large decrease in the population in Ireland, this has not occurred in most of the famines that have taken place in Africa or Asia. O’Rourke (1991) considers the view that the Great Irish Famine lead to a population decline that went on well into the next century. He looks at literature that perhaps contends this view; such a view professes that the decline in the population would have occurred regardless, and the famine was not responsible for reducing the population growth. Furthermore, this famine has been considered a huge turning point in the history of Ireland; the conventional view is that this famine was a huge catastrophe in Ireland, leading to a huge confidence in the way Irish people thought of themselves and their land. The argument put forth is that many of the changes that occurred after the famine can be associated with factors other than the famine itself. Hence, some of the authors O’Rourke considers believe that the great famine did not matter; the decrease in population and increase in immigration would have occurred even if the famine had never taken place. This is explained by showing how the declining population was linked to the decrease in the agricultural population. The fact that there were changing world prices that lead to an overall decrease in the agricultural labor needed would have thus happened, whether or not the famine occurred. Guinnane (1994) also considers arguments that say that this is true. The argument is again, that depopulation occurred in Ireland not because of the famine but rather because of two external factors. One such external factor was the increased labor demands in America and Britain and the other was the increased import to Western Europe. O’Rourke (1991) challenges this view, doing this by setting up a model of a pre-famine Ireland and considering if the changes in population would have occurred had the famine never taken place. His research finds that the great famine did indeed have implications, and the kind of changes we saw happening in Ireland occurred due to the famine. If we compare this famine to those happening in Africa and Asia, we find that this consequence of the famine – the decreasing population trend, does not hold. Also, we find another difference in terms of impact that the famines have had in their respective regions. The Great Irish Famine as the name suggests is a phenomenon that has changed the structure of Ireland and completely transformed it. Its impact has been widespread, while this is not necessarily true for other famines that occur in Africa; they do not have as huge an impact as this famine had on Ireland. There are many similarities one can observe when discussing the surrounding circumstances in which the Great Irish Famine and other famines occurring in Africa took place. The greatest similarity is that the famines were both a result of policies taken by the colonizing powers that contributed to the increased disastrous state of affairs of the famines that occurred; had more appropriate policies been implemented, many of the horrendous after effects of the famine would not have taken place. McGowan (2007) takes a look at the ‘famine diaries’ – eyewitness accounts of events that unfolded before and after the Great Irish famine. Some of these diaries discuss the role of colonization and what impact it had on the famine; they discuss the activities of the corrupt British officials and the kind of dehumanizing practices Irish people were subject to. Thus according to many, the Great Irish famine was an ‘artificial famine’, a product of severely and cruelly misguided policies of the British colonizers. One reason given to support this argument is the fact that other crops besides potato that were grown in Ireland, were being exported and sent to Britain, while the Irish population went ahead and starved. Another argument refers to the treatment of the Irish landlords over their tenants; because of their greed for money, they evicted many tenants who were then forced to migrate or die from starvation. Biletz (2001) too looks at the ways in which the British colonial rule was a cause for the Great Irish famine. He does not go so far as to say that it was genocide on the part of the British, but he does examine reasons that caused the famine, beyond the obvious causes that is the potato fungus. The argument given, which many scholars and historians agree on, is that the British policies that were employed in Ireland were ill advised and erroneous; had such policies not been taken, the death toll would not have been as high as it turned out to be. Also, the social conditions in which majority of people lived when affected by these famines can be said to be similar; such conditions involved majority of people living below or on the poverty line, dependent to a large extent on agriculture as a means of livelihood. In the case of both famines, the famine occurred in regions that were relatively small and had little influence on world markets. Hence, these regions were very sensitive to world prices, and drastic changes in the world market would lead to major impacts in the local market. High dependency on particular famine is also another common aspect we see in the famines. In the case of the Great Irish Famine we see this in terms of high dependency on potatoes, as this was the main staple diet of a vast majority of people in the region. In fact, that is why this famine is also called the Potatoes Famine. Over population is perhaps another aspect that can be seen as similar in the case of these famines. The pre famine Ireland was considered to be overpopulated, and the Malthusian theory is used to explain the occurrence if the flood. The same is true for famines happening in places such as Ethiopia, where it is argued that the population has out done the carrying capacity of the land there, hence being a direct cause of the famine itself. This is a contested opinion and many authors and researcher are arguing that food shortage should be differentiated from the term famine; furthermore, overpopulation should not be used as a way to explain famines as there are other important and crucial factors underlying history, politics and economics which leads to famines. Having considered all the critical aspects regarding famine and having indulged in a detailed analysis of comparing the Great Irish Famine with other famines occurring in contemporary times in Africa and Asia, we can now conclude the essay by wrapping up the various aspects that we covered. We should first and foremost be clear on the fact that famine is a phenomenon that has multiple definitions, and depending on which definition one chooses, viable solutions to counter this phenomenon will be discussed. This article focuses on causes of famine that are not natural, dealing with the history of the region, discussing implications of colonial regimes in causing and perpetuating a system that is prone to famines and supporting that argument by giving examples from countries in Africa where research on this aspect has been carried out. Research and opinions of various authors has been taken into consideration when discussing this. It is quite obvious that the way one perceives the problem will inevitably shape the way one formulates solutions. Thus, policy solutions suggested are directed at trying to fix, correct or alter the factors that are held responsible for this phenomenon. It should obviously be kept in mind that certain factors such as environmental conditions and population size are quite hard to control. When comparing the Great Irish Famine with recent famines in Africa, it was found that there were both similarities and differences. 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Entitlements or Empowerment? Famine and Starvation in Africa. Review of African Political Economy, No. 51, The Struggle for Resources in Africa. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. This article is not included in your organizations subscription. However, you may be able to access this article under your organizations agreement with Elsevier. This article is not included in your organizations subscription. However, you may be able to access this article under your organizations agreement with Elsevier. Read More