Theories of Famine: From Malthus to Sen

220 Pages·1993·5.246 MB·English

by  Stephen Devereux

Theories of Famine
Stephen Devereux
g p HARVESTER
m
WHEATSHEAF
New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo Singapore
First published 1993 by
Harvester Wheatsheaf
Campus 400, Maylands Avenue
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire, HP2 7EZ
A division of
Simon & Schuster International Group
© 1993 Stephen Devereux
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission, in writing, from the publisher.
Typeset in 10/12 pt Times
by Keyboard Services, Luton
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
T.J. Press (Padstow) Ltd
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
ISBN 0-7450-1417-8 (pbk)
12 3 4 5 97 % 95 94 93
To Gillian

Contents
List of figures xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Part 1 The nature of famine 1
1 Introduction 5
2 What is famine? 9
2.1 Dictionary definitions 10
2.2 Food shortage definitions 10
2.3 Famine as mass starvation 11
2.4 'Behavioural' definitions 14
2.5 insider' definitions 16
2.6 Conclusion 18
3 The evolution of famine theory 21
3.1 Act of God or act of man? 21
3.2 Supply failure or demand failure? 23
3.3 Famine theory: multiplicity and simplicity 28
3.4 Towards a taxonomy of famine theories 30
Part 2 Theories of famine 33
4 Climate and famine 35
4.1 Climate and 'natural famine regions' 35
4.2 Drought and famine 38
4.3 Seasonality, vulnerability and famine 42
4.4 Conclusion 44
vii
viii Contents
5 The population monster 46
5.1 Malthusian theory 46
5.2 Critique and contra-Malthusian models 49
5.3 Neo-Malthusianism 51
5.4 Modern demographic arguments 53
5.5 Policy implications 57
5.6 Conclusion 62
Appendix 5.1 A graphical representation of Malthus's model 63
6 The entitlement approach 66
6.1 The basic entitlement approach 66
6.2 Strengths of the entitlement approach 69
6.3 Entitlements versus income 74
6.4 Limitations of the entitlement approach 76
6.5 Conclusion 81
Appendix 6.1 Entitlements and starvation : a graphical approach 82
7 Famine and food markets 86
7.1 Basic propositions 86
7.2 Market dependence and demand failure 88
7.3 Expectations, speculation and hoarding 91
7.4 I mperfect or fragmented markets 94
7.5 Conclusion 99
Part 3 The political economy of famine 101
8 The management of natural resources 103
8.1 'Natural degradation' 104
8.2 'Indigenous ignorance' 105
8.3 'Malignant exploitation' 110
8.4 Conclusion 112
9 Famine and development 114
9.1 Marginalization and development 115
9.2 Commoditization and market dependence 117
9.3 The moral economy meets colonial capitalism 120
9.4 Vulnerability as a 'phase of developmenf 121
9.5 Case study: the Sahelian famine, 1969-74 124
9.6 Conclusion 126
10 Famine and government policy 129
10.1 Urban bias 130
10.2 Agricultural regulation 133
Contents ix
10.3 Response failure 137
10.4 Case study: the Soviet famine of1932-4 140
10.5 Case study: the Chinese famine of1958-61 142
10.6 Conclusion 146
11 War and famine 148
11.1 Militarization 148
11.2 War 150
11.3 Refugees 155
11.4 Case study: the Netherlands, 1944 159
11.5 Conclusion 161
12 Famine and international relations 164
12.1 International food markets 165
12.2 International responsibility and response 167
12.3 The politics of food aid 171
12.4 Case study: the 1974 Bangladesh famine 174
12.5 Conclusion 176
Part 4 Conclusion 179
13 A summary of theories 181
13.1 Defining famine 181
13.2 Theories: background 182
13.3 FAD theories 182
13.3.1 Climate 182
13.3.2 Population 183
13.4 Economic theories 184
13.4.1 Entitlements 184
13.4.2 Market failure 185
13.5 Political economy explanations 186
13.5.1 Natural resources 187
13.5.2 Development 187
13.5.3 Government policy 188
13.5.4 War 189
13.5.5 International relations 189
13.6 Policy implications 190
13.7 Conclusion: determinants of vulnerability 191
Bibliography 193
Subject index 203
Name index 206

Figures
Figure 5.1 A graphical representation of Malthus's model $
Figure 6.1 Illustration of endowment and entitlement 8
Figure 7.1 Demand failure and market failure 3
Figure 7.2 Market dependence and famine 3
Figure 8.1 Ecological degradation and famine 113