In 1998 Sudan suffered famine caused by civil war, environmental factors and its economic plight. When TV cameras leave that's not the end of the country's difficulties. This edition of Global express helps children think about waht famine is, what causes it and how the media shape our understanding.

Contents

• Why do famines happen?
• Challenging myths and stereotypes
• Quotations
• Sudan factfile 

Why do famines happen?

Famine is a crisis in which starvation from too little food results in a sharp increase in deaths in one place.

In 1998 we saw footage from Sudan of desperately thin people and dying, malnourished children. The UN has called on governments to respond, and a number of UK aid agencies are also appealing for funds to send to Sudan.

The UN, international charities and civil institutions all report that hundreds of people are still dying daily and that a million people will be at risk of starvation for another year. Thousands have had to leave their homes to seek help. If they cannot return to their land with enough seed and tools to plant for the next harvest they will need to rely on food aid until August 1999.

The media sometimes gives the impression that famines arrive and disappear quickly. Yet famine can be forseen - the main causes are complex but can be tracked. In Sudan the civil war between government and Southern rebel armies has been fought for 15 years and the last three years of harvests have been very poor; in some areas there has also been flooding.

Famine itself is rare but hunger and malnutrition are not. One in five people don't get enough or the right kind of food to lead fully productive lives - they are vulnerable to disease, infection and parasites and have grown up with weak bones and muscles. Malnutrition contributes to short life expectancy and for children is particularly dangerous, affecting their strength and their ability to grow, to learn and to perform complex tasks.

Because of poverty
Poverty is the root cause of famine. People who live in poverty are always more vulnerable to natural disasters, catastrophes and war. But this does not make them passive. Most people living in poverty are extremely resilient and have many tried and tested ways of surviving and preparing for disasters which have been developed over generations of bitter experience. It is only when too many problems come at the same time - or they are too huge - that normal coping strategies fail.
Food security is affected by both local conditions and government policies. Many argue that international trade policies are unfair and penalise poorer countries, many of which are caught in a debt trap which hits the poorest hardest. Also, millions of small subsistence farmers in countries like Sudan lack the investment to plan and plant for next year, often as a result of government policies which favour the production of cash crops for export.

Because of war
Whether civil or international, war diverts valuable resources away from development. In a war-zone farmers cannot plant or tend crops, they have difficulty storing food for times of hardship, markets often close and the warring parties can prevent help reaching people. Eventually people are forced to leave and to give up trying to be self-sufficient.
Hunger can also be used as a weapon in war. In Sudan, there is evidence that both sides in the war are destroying fields and grain stores and stopping food getting to famine-hit areas.

Because of natural disaster
When floods and droughts hit wealthy countries people don't starve because they don't rely on their land for food - they often have a salary, savings, insurance and as a last resort the government has enough money and food to get emergency supplies through. But when you have little and lose even that - be it your crop or your house - there is nothing left to fall back on.
The reality of famine is complex but sometimes the media will point to a natural disaster as the only cause, rather than explain how other more complex factors play a part. Is it perhaps easier to convince people to help if the cause is apparently natural and no-one is to blame?

Famine in the news
Mass media coverage of famines and other emergencies often lead to an outpouring of sympathy and financial support from the public and governments. Such support helps save and rebuild lives. But inevitably, the film crews and news reporters will move on to the next story - while many of the problems still remain. What is really needed is longer term action to reduce poverty and to prevent such disasters happening in the first place.

Challenging myths and stereotypes

Some people think: People facing famine seem to do nothing to help themselves.

The cameras and reporters often arrive late on the scene of a famine. By that time people will have walked long distances to get help and many will be severely emaciated and in the late stages of starvation. They have no energy, they have often lost loved ones, and they are in mental and physical pain . No wonder that by the time we see them on our screens they don't appear to be doing anything to help themselves.

The people we see are, after all, the ones who have survived longer than the people we will never see. But behind the scenes a lot more has happened as people have struggled to prepare for disasters like these - by building granaries to store and protect their foodstocks, working long hours, taking part in credit schemes, and planting seeds which are resistant to drought. People have many local strategies for dealing with times of scarcity.

Finally, if famine is on the horizon, people may have to live on wild foods like roots and berries. If people are forced to eat their crop seeds this means that next year there will not be anything to plant and then it becomes difficult to escape the cycle of poverty and famine.

It is often said that: Famine in Africa is caused by overpopulation.

We are used to seeing images of vast numbers of people waiting for help which reinforces the idea that there are too many mouths to feed and that is what causes famine.

In fact much of Africa is sparsely populated, with sub-Saharan Africa having an average population density of just 16 people to every square kilometre. In the UK the figure is 234.2 and 402 in Holland. Both China and India are more densely populated than Africa and yet both have overcome famine - though not malnutrition.

Famine only happens in Africa and it's inevitable. This is not true.

Famine is not a problem unique to African nations. The situation in North Korea last year was described by observers as a "famine in slow motion", for example. The largest number of chronically undernourished people - 512 million - are in South and South East Asia (compared to 204 million people in sub-Saharan Africa).

Famines have recurred throughout history - in 1783 more than 1,000 people died in Iceland when a volcano erupted and covered the crops with ash; between 1845 and 1851 a famine in Ireland killed one in five people. Between 1946 and 1948, 30 million people were affected by famine in China, and the last major famine in India in 1943 led to three million deaths. (Source: CIIR News, Nov/Dec 1996)

The world now grows enough food for everyone. The main problem is distribution and access to food. We also have sophisticated ways of monitoring - and hopefully preventing - pending food shortages such as satellite observation of vegetation cover, combined with sample surveys on the ground. But governments and international agencies need to improve how they respond to the warning signs when they do appear because in the long term, just giving out food however necessary, is not a solution.

Quotations

"If reporters from Mars visited earth don't you think that their lead story would be "one in six humans go hungry" and yet that never makes headline news." Jon Snow, Channel Four News (One World Media Conference, London, June 1998)

"After government troops killed a man in our village, my husband left to find somewhere else for us to live. I was against the idea of leaving where we have plenty of cultivable land, and told him my fears of how to feed our children. This annoyed him very much and he asked, "Why do you want to die because of food?" Edisa, in Uganda during the 1980s civil conflict, Arms to Fight, Arms to Protect: Women Speak Out About Conflict, Panos 1995

"The Southern Sudanese ethnic groups used not to depend on relief because any one who begs or does no work would be looked upon as lazy and would not be respected. But with the ongoing war many people have resort to relief as a means of survival because they have no alternative." Makur Kot Dhuor, Africa News Online

"As a result of the famines, about 38 years ago a system of grainbanks was instituted. Each family gave some millet, sorghum and haricot beans to the village chief after the harvest. Those experiencing difficulties during the year, would ask for a share of the grainbank. The next year, any unused grain was returned to the donor." (Koure, Niger, as above, pp. 139-140).

"I worry that many [viewers] have simply looked and turned away, depressed and alienated by yet another image of starving Africa". Fergal Keane, BBC reporter, in his TV coverage of the Sudanese famine

"Logistically, the war zone in Southern Sudan is one of the most difficult places on earth in which to operate. It is larger than Britain, and has no roads, no electricity and no infrastructure outside a few isolated and beseiged government garrison towns. It is a land of endless bush, villages, nomadic cattle herdsmen and subsistence farmers." Kevin Toolis, The Guardian, 22.8.98.

"... the hidden contradiction that underpins the famine business ... is the contradiction between the simplistic, emotive messages of starving children, promulgated by the media and the messy, confused political reality." Kevin Toolis, The Guardian, 22.8.98.

Sudan factfile

Population: 28,175,000 (1994)
Capital: Khartoum
Area: 967,500 sq miles (the largest African country)

Land: Sudan has four distinct geographical regions: riverine agricultural land, deserts in the North, flatlands in the centre and dense rainforests in the South.

People: Most of the population lives along the productive banks of the Nile. There is a wide ethnic spectrum with over 570 groups. Arabs and Nubians, who are Islamic, live mainly in the North and centre and account for nearly half the population. There are Christians in both North and South. Some people follow traditional religions. There are nearly 400,000 refugees from neighbouring countries living in Sudan. 22% of the population is urban.

National holiday: 1st January (Independence Day, 1956). From 1898 to 1956 Sudan was ruled by the British.
Health services: Under 5 mortality: 169 per 1000 (1991)
Calorie consumption: 87% of required intake (1988-90)
Safe water: 46% of pop. has access
Life expectancy: men: 48.8 years, women: 51.2 years. (UK: 73.1/78.8 years)
Education (1991): Literacy - 44% male, 21% female (UK: 99%) (1991)
School enrolment: primary - 56% male, 43% female; secondary - 25% male, 20% female
1 primary school teacher for every 34 students.
Economy: Per capita GNP: £191 (1991) (UK: £9,460)
Imports: £524 million.
Exports: £242 million (1992)
Source: The World: A Third World Guide, Instituto, del Tercer Mundo