Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER NINETEEN
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
E
arly Warning Systems in Africa
JA
MES ROWLAND, JAMES VERDIN, ALKHALIL ADOUM,
A
ND GABRIEL SENAY
[252
Line
——
0.0
——
Norm
PgEn
Hundreds of millions of people in the world today do not enjoy food
security—they do not have “access . . . at all times to enough food for an
active and healthy life” (World Bank, 1986). Many of these individuals
are among the quarter-billion people living in the climatically vulnerable
drylands of sub-Saharan Africa (UNSO/UNDP, 1997). The drought of the
early 1970s was responsible for 100,000 deaths in the Sahel and 200,000
deaths in Ethiopia (Sen, 1981) and was soon followed by another drought
during 1983-85 that was responsible for 400,000 to 1 million deaths
(Walker, 1989).
Famine is the most extreme food security emergency that occurs in the
vulnerable areas of Africa. A practical definition of famine, offered by Cox,
states that it is “the regional failure of food production or distribution sys-
tems, leading to sharply increased mortality due to starvation and associ-
ated disease” (quoted in Field, 1993). Famine's underlying cause is crop
failure brought about by bad weather, armed conflict, or both (Mellor and
Gavian, 1987). Famine is a slow-onset disaster, the culmination of physical
and social processes occurring over two or more growing seasons. Thus,
observation and detection of events leading up to famine can yield informa-
tion needed to trigger preparation for famine and prevention of its worst
effects. Even so, early warning of famine can come none too soon because
“the time needed to get food to famine-stricken areas after an appeal for
aid can stretch to six months or more” (Ulrich, 1993). Furthermore, early
warning does not guarantee early response. The decision by relief orga-
nizations to commit large amounts of resources ordinarily demands clear
evidence that, unfortunately, is often difficult to assemble in the early stages
of the famine process.
Prevention of famine in vulnerable regions of Africa, then, requires early
and unambiguous identification of unfolding food security problems so
[252
252
Search WWH ::
Custom Search