Famines and Economics

Factors that increase vulnerability to famine include poverty, weak social and Martin Ravallion physical infrastructure, a weak and unprepared government, and a relatively closed political regime. Summary findings Defining famine as widespread, usually life-threatening, institutions that work adequately, though not perfectly, hunger or starvation, Ravallion observes that famine has in normal times can fail under unusual stresses. Poor occurred in most parts of the world in the twentieth people can then be highly vulnerable. century, killing many people. But famines are surely Famine can be viewed as a tragic magnification of more avoidable now than ever before. normal market and governmental failures, says Ravallion. Famines defy simple explanations and geographic And the factors that can transform a shock into mass boundaries, says Ravallion. They have happened under starvation seem to be intrinsic features of normal both socialist and capitalist economic systems, and with economies rather than peculiar features of highly and without wars or unusual political or social instability. distorted or badly managed economies. Normally they And economic analysis can help explain famines that in are hidden from view, but they can surfacein a number the past have been explained in terms of often doubtful of ways. single causes, such as a decline in aggregate food Certain elements increase a region's vulnerability to production. famine: Under certain conditions, the threat of mass starvation * Poverty. can emerge from seemingly small shocks to an economy, * Weak social and physical infrastructure. or from a steady-even slow-decline in average * A weak and unprepared government. living standards. And similar, even large, shocks in * A relatively closed political regime. similar settings can have very different consequences. Arguably the same factors constrain longer-term Market and nonmarket (including government) economic development, concludes Ravallion. This paper-a product of the Poverty and Human Resources Division, Policy Research Department-is part of a larger effort in the department to better understand the economic and political factors that can make poor people vulnerable to aggregate shocks. The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas ahout development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paperare entirely those of theauthor. They do not necessarily …