What countries were suffering from famine?
Why?
- The Democratic Republic of Congo. The DRC has surpassed Yemen as the world’s worst hunger crisis. ...
- Yemen. Yemen is heading towards the biggest famine in modern history. ...
- South Sudan. Record-high levels of hunger across South Sudan are a result of a deadly combination of a years long civil war and erratic weather.
- Syria. ...
- Nigeria. ...
- The Sahel. ...
What are some things that can cause a famine?
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies.This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality.Every inhabited continent in the world has experienced a period of ...
What problems contribute to famine?
Famine is a global problem affected developing countries. The main causes of famine are low income and low developed economies. It is known that among the developed countries, increases in per-capita food production since the 1950s have generally moved upward in tandem with increases in total food production.
How to survive coming famine?
Ten Tips for Surviving a Famine
- Stock up on Emergency Supplies. It goes without saying but you should always have ample emergency supplies. ...
- If Possible Work With Others to Survive. In a survival situation being the most prepared neighbor may cost you dearly. ...
- Grow your Own Food. ...
- Look Out for Emergency Relief. ...
- Be Discreet. ...
- Arm Yourself. ...
- Hunting and Fishing. ...
- Be In The Know. ...
See more
Did Britain cause the Great Famine?
The landed proprietors in Ireland were held in Britain to have created the conditions that led to the famine. However, it was asserted that the British parliament since the Act of Union of 1800 was partly to blame.
How did the Great Famine ended?
The "famine" ended in 1849, when British troops stopped removing the food. While enough food to sustain 18 million people was being removed from Ireland, its population was reduced by more than 2.5 million, to 6.5 million.
What disease led to the great potato famine?
Scientists have long known that it was a strain of Phytophthora infestans (or P. infestans) that caused the widespread devastation of potato crops in Ireland and northern Europe beginning in 1845, leading to the Irish Potato Famine.
How long did the Great Famine last?
When the blight returned in 1846 with much more severe effects on the potato crop, this created an unparalleled food crisis that lasted four years and drove Ireland into a nightmare of hunger and disease.
What did people eat during the Great Famine?
Several species of edible algae, including dulse, channelled wrack and Irish moss (Chondrus crispus), were eaten by coastal peasants during the Great Famine in Ireland of 1846–48. Further inland, famine foods included stinging nettle, wild mustard, sorrel and watercress.
Why didn't the Irish eat other food during the famine?
During the Irish potato famine, why didn't people simply eat other vegetables? Because the British government demanded that food shipments to England from Ireland were to continue, regardless of the failing potato crops. There wasn't anything else for the Irish to eat because it was being fed to Londoners.
Why did the Irish only eat potatoes?
Why were potatoes so important to Ireland? The potato plant was hardy, nutritious, calorie-dense, and easy to grow in Irish soil. By the time of the famine, nearly half of Ireland's population relied almost exclusively on potatoes for their diet, and the other half ate potatoes frequently.
Who helped Ireland during the famine?
Donations to Ireland came from Jamaica, Barbados, St. Kitts, and other small islands. Donations were also sent from slave churches in some of the southern states of America. Children in a pauper orphanage in New York raised $2 for the Irish poor.
Could the potato famine have been prevented?
There existed - after 1847, at least - an absolute sufficiency of food that could have prevented mass starvation, if it had been properly distributed so as to reach the smallholders and labourers of the west and the south of Ireland.
What was the worst famine in history?
'three years of great famine') was a period between 1959 and 1961 in the history of the People's Republic of China (PRC) characterized by widespread famine....Great Chinese Famine.Great Chinese Famine 三年大饥荒Period1959–1961Total deaths15–55 millionObservationsConsidered China's most devastating catastrophe.4 more rows
How did the Irish eat potatoes?
Irish people have traditionally preferred floury potatoes to waxy varieties. Whilst silversmiths in Georgian Ireland made potato rings for the Anglo-Irish ascendancy, the poor cottiers cooked in a cauldron and ate their potatoes 'with and without the moon', using a long thumb nail to peel the skin.
What is the largest famine in human history?
Great Leap ForwardThe 'Great Leap Forward'-famine in China from 1959-61 was the single largest famine in history in terms of absolute numbers of deaths. Excess mortality estimates vary hugely, but based on our midpoint estimates, it cost more than double the number of lives than any other famine.
How did Ireland survive the famine?
In the first year of the Famine, deaths from starvation were kept down due to the imports of Indian corn and survival of about half the original potato crop. Poor Irish survived the first year by selling off their livestock and pawning their meager possessions whenever necessary to buy food.
How did China recover from famine?
Mao's People's Communes were also overhauled and downsized, while peasants were allowed to farm their own small plots and trade at local markets. These reforms ended the famine and facilitated a degree of economic recovery in the early 1960s.
How did governments respond to the Great Famine?
All in all, the British government spent about £8 million on relief, and some private relief funds were raised as well. The impoverished Irish peasantry, lacking the money to purchase the foods their farms produced, continued throughout the famine to export grain, meat, and other high-quality foods to Britain.
What is the conclusion of famine?
Famines are sustained, extreme shortages of food among discrete populations sufficient to cause high rates of mortality.
What caused the Great Famine?
The Great Famine was caused by a failure of the potato crop, which many people relied on for most of their nutrition. A disease called late blight...
What were the effects of the Great Famine?
As a direct consequence of the famine, Ireland's population fell from almost 8.4 million in 1844 to 6.6 million by 1851. About 1 million people die...
Why were potatoes so important to Ireland?
The potato plant was hardy, nutritious, calorie-dense, and easy to grow in Irish soil. By the time of the famine, nearly half of Ireland's populati...
How did the potato blight happen?
The Irish relied on one or two types of potatoes, which meant that there wasn't much genetic variety in the plants (diversity is a factor that usua...
How many people died during the Great Famine?
About one million people died during the Great Famine from starvation or from typhus and other famine-related diseases. An estimated two million mo...
What caused the potato famine in 1840?
The proximate cause of the famine was a potato blight which infected potato crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, causing an additional 100,000 deaths outside Ireland and influencing much of the unrest in the widespread European Revolutions of 1848.
How many people died in the 1851 famine?
It is not known exactly how many people died during the period of the famine, although it is believed that more died from disease than from starvation. State registration of births, marriages, or deaths had not yet begun, and records kept by the Catholic Church are incomplete. One possible estimate has been reached by comparing the expected population with the eventual numbers in the 1850s. A census taken in 1841 recorded a population of 8,175,124. A census immediately after the famine in 1851 counted 6,552,385, a drop of over 1.5 million in 10 years. The census commissioners estimated that, at the normal rate of population increase, the population in 1851 should have grown to just over 9 million if the famine had not occurred.
How did the Irish famine affect the Irish people?
The famine and its effects permanently changed the island's demographic, political, and cultural landscape, producing an estimated 2 million refugees and spurring a century-long population decline. For both the native Irish and those in the resulting diaspora, the famine entered folk memory.
How many ships sailed from the US to Ireland?
In total, 118 vessels sailed from the US to Ireland with relief goods valued at $545,145. Specific states which provided aid include South Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was the second most important state for famine relief in the US and the second-largest shipping port for aid to Ireland.
What was the Irish Famine?
Irish Famine, 1879 ( An Gorta Beag) The Great Famine ( Irish: an Gorta Mór [anˠ ˈɡɔɾˠt̪ˠə ˈmˠoːɾˠ] ), also known as the Great Hunger, the Famine (mostly within Ireland) or the Irish Potato Famine (mostly outside Ireland), was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852. With the most severely affected areas in ...
What was the worst year of the Great Hunger?
The worst year of the period was 1847 , known as "Black '47". During the Great Hunger, about 1 million people died and more than a million fled the country, causing the country's population to fall by 20%–25%, in some towns falling as much as 67% between 1841 and 1851.
When was the Great Famine in Ireland?
For other famines in Ireland, see Irish famine (disambiguation). Famine in Ireland from 1845–1852. Great Famine. An Gorta Mór/Drochshaol. Scene at Skibbereen during the Great Famine by Cork artist James Mahony, The Illustrated London News, 1847. Location. Ireland. Period. 1845–1852.
How did local government influence the famine?
The influence of local government in the famine can be seen in the comparison between the provinces of Anhui and Jiangxi. Anhui, having a radical pro-Mao government, was led by Zeng Xisheng who was "dictatorial", with ties to Mao. Zeng firmly believed in the Great Leap Forward and tried to build relationships with higher officials rather than maintain local ties. Zeng proposed agricultural projects without consulting colleagues, which caused Anhui's agriculture to fail terribly. Zhang Kaifan, a party secretary and deputy-governor of the province, heard rumours of a famine breaking out in Anhui and disagreed with many of Zeng's policies. Zeng reported Zhang to Mao for such speculations. As a result, Mao labeled Zhang "a member of the 'Peng Dehuai anti-Party military clique ' " and he was purged from the local party. Zeng was unable to report on the famine when it became an emergency situation, as this would prove his hypocrisy. For this he was described as a "blatant political radical who almost single-handedly damaged Anhui".
What was the argument that excessive eating led to a worsening of the Great Leap Famine?
One argument is that excessive eating took place in the mess halls, and that this directly led to a worsening of the famine. If excessive eating had not taken place, one scholar argued, "the worst of the Great Leap Famine could still have been avoided in mid-1959".
How many people died from malnutrition in China?
A research team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences concluded in 1989 that at least 15 million people died of malnutrition. Li Chengrui (李成瑞), former Minister of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, estimated 22 million deaths (1998).
What was the agricultural economy during the Great Leap Forward?
The agricultural economy was centrally planned, and regional Party leaders were given production quotas for the communes under their control. Their output was then appropriated by the state and distributed at its discretion.
How many people died in the famine?
The excess mortality associated with the famine has been estimated by various CCP officials and international experts, with most giving a number in the range of 15–55 million deaths. Some specific estimates include the following:
What is cannibalism in the 20th century?
Due to the scale of the famine, the resulting cannibalism has been described as being "on a scale unprecedented in the history of the 20th century".
Why did the Chinese Communist Party report excessive production of grain?
Beginning in 1957, the Chinese Communist Party began to report excessive production of grain because of pressure from superiors. However, the actual production of grain throughout China was decreasing from 1957 to 1961. For example:
How many people died in the CCP famine?
The consensus is that around 30 million people died, though some historians have suggested as many as 45 million perished.
What was the cause of the Great Famine of 1958-61?
The causes and outcomes of the Great Famine are partially obscured and subject to considerable debate. Though caused chiefly by drought and weather conditions , the Great Famine was undoubtedly worsened by the communist policies.
What was the CCP government's role in the famine?
The CCP government concealed the extent of the famine, both from its own people in the cities and from the rest of the world. Food supplies in the cities had also dwindled, causing death rates in some urban centres to double; this was attributed to natural disasters.
What were the effects of the Great Famine?
Cannibalism. One of the grisliest effects of the Great Famine was cannibalism. Nobody knows how often or how widely it occurred but there are scores of accounts of flesh-eating, both official and anecdotal. Police reports detail specific incidents of cannibalism.
What animals were eaten in Sichuan?
In Sichuan, thousands of peasants were forced to eat soil. Dogs, cats, rats, mice and insects were all eaten, dead or alive, until there were no more. Malnutrition, famine oedema (swelling) and the effects of vitamin deficiency became apparent.
How much grain did China export in 1959?
Despite these problems, China continued to export grain through 1959 and 1960, sending some seven million tons of grain offshore – an amount that could have saved as many as 16 million lives. After hearing reports of the famine, the International Red Cross offered food aid but this was refused by Beijing.
What percentage of China's farmland was unusable in 1959?
In 1959, only 9.6 per cent of farmland was reported as unusable by local officials – yet this became the worst year of the famine. Another factor in China’s slumping agricultural production were the theories of Trofim Lysenko, a Soviet agronomist.
How did the potato famine affect Ireland?
The infestation ruined up to one-half of the potato crop that year, and about three-quarters of the crop over the next seven years. Because the tenant farmers of Ireland—then ruled as a colony of Great Britain—relied heavily on the potato as a source of food, the infestation had a catastrophic impact on Ireland and its population. Before it ended in 1852, the Potato Famine resulted in the death of roughly one million Irish from starvation and related causes, with at least another million forced to leave their homeland as refugees.
What was the potato famine in Ireland?
Great Hunger Begins. Legacy of the Potato Famine. Irish Hunger Memorials. Sources. The Irish Potato Famine, also known as the Great Hunger, began in 1845 when a fungus-like organism called Phytophthora infestans (or P. infestans) spread rapidly throughout Ireland. The infestation ruined up to one-half ...
What was the legacy of the Potato Famine?
Legacy of the Potato Famine. The exact role of the British government in the Potato Famine and its aftermath—whether it ignored the plight of Ireland’s poor out of malice, or if their collective inaction and inadequate response could be attributed to incompetence— is still being debated.
How many Irish people died in the potato famine?
Although estimates vary, it is believed as many as 1 million Irish men, women and children perished during the Famine, and another 1 million emigrated from the island to escape poverty and starvation, with many landing in various cities throughout North America and Great Britain. Legacy of the Potato Famine.
What were the main commodities exported from Ireland in 1847?
In 1847 alone, records indicate that commodities such as peas, beans, rabbits, fish and honey continued to be exported from Ireland, even as the Great Hunger ravaged the countryside.
How many representatives did Ireland have?
In all, Ireland sent 105 representatives to the House of Commons—the lower house of Parliament—and 28 “peers” (titled landowners) to the House of Lords, or the upper house. Still, it’s important to note that the bulk of these elected representatives were landowners of British origin and/or their sons.
Where is the Great Hunger Museum?
A Great Hunger Museum has been established at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut as a resource for those seeking information on the Potato Famine and its impact, as well as for researchers hoping to explore the event and its aftermath. Sources.
What was the Great Famine?
It was one of the central events in the history of North Korea, and it forced the regime and its people to change in fundamental and unanticipated ways.
How did North Korea's vulnerability to the floods and famine affect the country?
North Korea's vulnerability to the floods and famine was exacerbated by the failure of the public distribution system. The regime refused to pursue policies that would have allowed food imports and distribution without discrimination to all regions of the country. During the famine, the urban working class of the cities and towns of the eastern provinces of the country was hit particularly hard. The distribution of food reflected basic principles of stratification of the communist system.
Why were words such as hunger and famine banned?
As part of this state campaign, uses of words such as 'famine' and 'hunger' were banned because they implied government failure. Citizens who said deaths were due to the famine could be in serious trouble with the authorities.
What was the term for the March of Suffering?
The term "Arduous March " or "March of Suffering" became the official metaphor for the famine following a state propaganda campaign in 1993. The Rodong Sinmun urged the North Korean citizenry to invoke the memory of a fable from Kim Il-sung 's time as a commander of a small group of anti-Japanese guerrilla fighters. The story, referred to as the Arduous March , is described as "fighting against thousands of enemies in 20 degrees below zero, braving through a heavy snowfall and starvation, the red flag fluttering in front of the rank."
What was the North Korean famine?
The North Korean famine ( Korean: 조선기근 ), also known as the Arduous March or the March of Suffering ( 고난의 행군 ), was a period of mass starvation together with a general economic crisis from 1994 to 1998 in North Korea. During this time there was an increase in defection from North Korea which peaked at the end of the famine period.
What happened to North Korea in the 1980s?
In the 1980s, the Soviet Union was embarking on political and economic reform. It began demanding payment from North Korea for past and current aid – amounts North Korea could not repay. By 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved, ending all aid and trade concessions, such as cheap oil. Without Soviet aid, the flow of imports to the North Korean agricultural sector ended, and the government proved too inflexible to respond. Energy imports fell by 75%. The economy went into a downward spiral, with imports and exports falling in tandem. Flooded coal mines required electricity to operate pumps, and the shortage of coal worsened the shortage of electricity. Agriculture reliant on electrically-powered irrigation systems, artificial fertilizers and pesticides was hit particularly hard by the economic collapse.
Why was aid cut off in North Korea?
Humanitarian aid from North Korea's neighbors has been cut off at times in order to provoke North Korea into resuming boycotted talks. For example, South Korea decided to "postpone consideration" of 500,000 tons of rice for the North in 2006, but the idea of providing food as a clear incentive (as opposed to resuming "general humanitarian aid") has been avoided. There have also been aid disruptions due to widespread theft of railway cars used by mainland China to deliver food relief.
Overview
Analysis of the government's role
Contemporary opinion was sharply critical of the Russell government's response to and management of the crisis. From the start, there were accusations that the government failed to grasp the magnitude of the disaster. Sir James Graham, who had served as Home Secretary in Sir Robert Peel's late government, wrote to Peel that, in his opinion, "the real extent and magnitude of the Irish dif…
Causes and contributing factors
Since the Acts of Union in January 1801, Ireland had been part of the United Kingdom. Executive power lay in the hands of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Chief Secretary for Ireland, who were appointed by the British government. Ireland sent 105 members of parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, and Irish representative peers elected 28 of their own number to sit fo…
Reaction in Ireland
The Corporation of Dublin sent a memorial to the Queen, "praying her" to call Parliament together early (Parliament was at this time prorogued), and to recommend the requisition of some public money for public works, especially railways in Ireland. The Town Council of Belfast met and made similar suggestions, but neither body asked for charity, according to John Mitchel, one of the leading Repealers.
Government response
When Ireland experienced food shortages in 1782–1783, ports were closed to exporting food, with the intention of keeping locally grown food in Ireland to feed the hungry. Irish food prices promptly dropped. Some merchants lobbied against the export ban, but the government in the 1780s overrode their protests.
Historian F. S. L. Lyons characterised the initial response of the British govern…
Food exports
Many Irish people, notably Mitchel, believed that Ireland continued to produce sufficient food to feed its population during the famine, and starvation resulted from exports. According to historian James Donnelly, "the picture of Irish people starving as food was exported was the most powerful image in the nationalist construct of the Famine". However, according to statistics, food imports excee…
Charity
William Smith O'Brien—speaking on the subject of charity in a speech to the Repeal Association in February 1845—applauded the fact that the universal sentiment on the subject of charity was that they would accept no English charity. He expressed the view that the resources of Ireland were still abundantly adequate to maintain the population, and that, until those resource…
Eviction
Landlords were responsible for paying the rates of every tenant whose yearly rent was £4 or less. Landlords whose land was crowded with poorer tenants were now faced with large bills. Many began clearing the poor tenants from their small plots and letting the land in larger plots for over £4 which then reduced their debts. In 1846, there had been some clearances, but the great mass of ev…
Overview
The Great Famine of 1315–1317 (occasionally dated 1315–1322) was the first of a series of large-scale crises that struck Europe early in the 14th century. Most of Europe (extending east to Russia and south to Italy) was affected. The famine caused many deaths over an extended number of years and marked a clear end to the period of period of growth and prosperity from the 11th to the 1…
Background
Famines were familiar occurrences in medieval Europe. For example, localised famines occurred in the Kingdom of France during the 14th century in 1304, 1305, 1310, 1315–1317 (the Great Famine), 1330–1334, 1349–1351, 1358–1360, 1371, 1374–1375, and 1390. In the Kingdom of England, the most prosperous kingdom affected by the Great Famine, there were additional famines in 1321, 1351, and 1369. For most people there was often not enough to eat, and life wa…
Great Famine
In the spring of 1315, unusually heavy rain began in much of Europe. Throughout the spring and the summer, it continued to rain, and the temperature remained cool. Under such conditions, grain could not ripen, leading to widespread crop failures. Grains were brought indoors in urns and pots to keep dry. The straw and hay for the animals could not be cured, so there was no fodder for the live…
Consequences
The Great Famine is noteworthy for the number of people who died, the vast geographic area that was affected, its length, and its lasting consequences.
Nearly all human societies at this time attributed natural disasters as being divine retribution for their apparent misdeeds. In a society whose final recourse for nearly all problems had been religion, and Roman Catholicism was the only tolerated Christian faith, no amount of prayer seem…
See also
• Popular revolts in late-medieval Europe
• List of famines
Further reading
• Aberth, John From the Brink of the Apocalypse: Confronting Famine, Plague, War and Death in the Later Middle Ages, 2000, ISBN 978-0-415-92715-4 – Chapter 1, dealing with the Great Famine, is available online.
• Bridbury, A. R. (1977). "Before the Black Death". The Economic History Review. 30 (3): 393–410. doi:10.2307/2594875. JSTOR 2594875.
Terminology
Extent of The Famine
- Production drop
Policy changes affecting how farming was organized coincided with droughts and floods. As a result, year-over-year grain production fell dramatically in China. The harvest was down by 15% in 1959 compared to 1958, and by 1960, it was at 70% of its 1958 level. Specifically, according to C… - Death toll
The excess mortality associated with the famine has been estimated by various CCP officials and international experts, with most giving a number in the range of 15–55 million deaths. According to historian Mobo Gao, those who are anti-Communist want to stretch the death toll number as …
Causes of The Famine
- The Great Chinese Famine was caused by a combination of radical agricultural policies, social pressure, economic mismanagement, and natural disasters such as droughts and floods in farming regions.
Aftermath
- Initial reactions and cover-ups
Local party leaders, for their part, conspired to cover up shortfalls and reassign blame in order to protect their own lives and positions. Mao was kept unaware of some of the starvation of villagers in the rural areas who were suffering, as the birth rate began to plummet and deaths increased i… - Cultural Revolution
In April and May 1961, Liu Shaoqi, then President of the People's Republic of China, concluded after 44 days of field research in villages of Hunanthat the causes of the famine were 30% natural disaster and 70% human error (三分天灾, 七分人祸). In January and February 1962, the "7000 Ca…
See Also
Background
Natural Disasters
- According to the government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Great Famine was caused by a string of natural disasters. Communist historiography refers to it not as the Great Famine but the “Three Years of Natural Disasters”. There is certainly some truth in this claim. In mid-1959, the Yellow River (or Huang Ho) flooded, causing thousands of drownings and ruined c…
Human Error
- While these disasters and climate events are confirmed by independent meteorological data, their real impact on agricultural production is also open to debate. Most Western historians agree that failed government policies and human mismanagement were more culpable than natural disasters. Frank Dikötter describes China’s starving millions as the “unintended consequences o…
Agrarian Policy and Lysenko
- The massive structural changes and labour redistribution of the Great Leap Forwardplaced the farming peasantry under enormous strain. Several historians point to the fact that the adverse weather events were fairly localised. In 1959, only 9.6 per cent of farmland was reported as unusable by local officials – yet this became the worst year of the famine. Another factor in Chin…
Reports and Requisitioning
- Many Western historians believe that local officials grossly exaggerated the effects of these natural disasters in their statistics and reports to Beijing. This was done to conceal or justify low production in their region, to appease the communist government or to obtain tax relief or assistance. Some researchers also claim that figures from 1959-61 were knowingly distorted by …
Food Shortages Increase
- With the state commandeering such high levels of grain, communes were left with insufficient food grain of their own. Some communes ignored the problem and maintained full rations, believing things would improve or the government would send food relief. By the summer of 1959, however, food shortages had reached a critical point. Relief should have come at the Lushan co…
Cannibalism
- One of the grisliest effects of the Great Famine was cannibalism. Nobody knows how often or how widely it occurred but there are scores of accounts of flesh-eating, both official and anecdotal. Police reports detail specific incidents of cannibalism. In Linxia, Gansu province, dozens of peasants were arrested in 1960, most for exhuming the corpses of their neighbours a…
Propaganda and Concealment
- The CCP government concealed the extent of the famine, both from its own people in the cities and from the rest of the world. Food supplies in the cities had also dwindled, causing death rates in some urban centres to double; this was attributed to natural disasters. Despite these problems, China continued to export grain through 1959 and 1960, sending some seven million tons of grai…