A hunger emergency is a phenomenon, with which a large percentage of the population of a region or a country is underfed and death increases by Verhungern in large measure. Hunger was so far common in the old world that it was apart from war, plague and death one of the four Apokalypti riders.

Despite the many larger technological and economic possibilities to the modern world hunger emergencies seem still in many parts of the world, mostly in sogn. Developing countries.

A cause of hunger emergencies harvest failures are released during supply attitude which is missing at the same time by natural reasons as tempests, parasits, other natural catastrophes and artificial hunger emergencies, caused by war, or intentionally with genozidaler intention.

Since the seventies of the last century the natural and economic causes of the hunger emergencies do not increasingly only become regarded, but also the social and political reasons analyzes. The economist Amartya Sen stated that it ever came in no functioning democracy to a hunger emergency.

Hunger has a strong effect on the demography. For example it was observed that longer to a decrease of the number of the female children can lead persisting hunger periods. Demographers and historians debate the causes of this tendency. Some it believe that parents prefer intentionally male children (by selling or after the birth killing female children see Neonatizid). Others believe that biological processes can be the cause.

As Amartya Sen observes, hunger emergencies are normally in the modern times a problem of the food distribution and poverty, not an absolute lack of Nahrung.In many cases like the large jump forward, North Korea in the center of the 90's or Zimbabwe since the year 2000 can be regarded hunger as result of the government politics. In the worst case will hunger to the tool of a repressive government as means to eliminate an unwanted subpopulation as in the Holodomor in the Ukraine during the thirties Jahre.In other cases such as Somalia or the Sudan is hunger a consequence of the civil war, since food distributing systems are interrupted.

Today nitrogen fertilizers, new pesticides, Neulandgewinnung and other agricultural technologies than weapons against hunger are used. They increase the Getreideernte by the two, three or multiple. Developed nations divide these technologies with developing countries, which have a hunger problem. Since however hunger is normally in the today's time the result of wars or distribution problems, it is questionable, how much new agricultural technologies would have effect on this problem.

Although sufficient food for the entire population of world would actually be present, there are also in 21. Century particularly in Africa still catastrophic hunger emergencies.

Causes of hunger emergencies by the example Sahelzone

In principle it can be stated that apart from the natural causes of the being missing precipitation or precipitation to the wrong time and erosion damage above all humans contribute to hunger emergencies:

• by omitted assistance calls
• general war confusions
• missing incentives for surplus production (too deep staatl. Buying up prices)
• Marketing prohibitions
• Cultivation of export products (cotton, peanuts) in place of basic food
• Nationalization of large-scale enterprises; low productivity, inefficient function
• missing infrastructure
• high population pressure
• by colonial-temporal border appointments in many people states
• political arbitrariness measures of the ruling powers

Hunger emergencies in history

Europe

Western Europe

In Western Europe were hunger emergencies to in 19. Century spreads.

• 1315-17 hunger emergency in far parts of Europe
• 1618-1648 hunger emergency as consequence of the war
• 1816-17 hunger emergency in far parts of Europe, released by the outbreak of the volcano Tambora in Indonesia
• 1845-49 loss of the crop of potatoes by food scarceness; Large hunger emergency in Ireland with 1.500.000 dead ones

Russia and USSR

• 1924 hunger emergency in the Ukraine and parts of Russia
• 1933 hunger emergency in the Ukraine (Holodomor), approx. 7 millions dead ones

Asia

China

• 1333-37 large hunger emergency with 4.000.000 dead ones.
• 1876-79 large hunger emergency in north China with 11.000.000 dead ones.
• 1892-94 large hunger emergency with 1.000.000 dead ones.
• 1896-97 large hunger emergency with 5.000.000 dead ones.
• 1920-21 large hunger emergency in north China with 500.000 dead ones.
• 1928-29 large hunger emergency with 10.000.000 dead ones.
• Perhaps the largest hunger emergency in China, and whole world history, was released forward of 1959-61 by the large jump, a social experiment, which 30 - 43 millions humans to the victim fell.

India

• 1630-1631 gave it a large hunger emergency in India. Recordings show that cannibalism was so common that human meat on the free market was sold.
• 1770 first bengalische hunger emergency with 6.500.000 dead ones.
• 1866 hunger emergency in Bengalen and Orissa with 1.500.000 dead ones.
• 1876-78 large hunger emergency with 5.000.000 dead ones.
• 1899-1900 hunger emergency with 1.250.000 dead ones.
• 1943-44 a further hunger emergency in Bengalen.
• 1966 threatening hunger emergency in Bihar. The USA assigned 900,000 tons to grain, in order to fight hunger.

Other asiatic countries

• 1876-78 hunger emergency in Java (Netherlands east India and/or Indonesia)
• Japanese occupation during the Second World War caused a hunger emergency, which cost two million victim for 1945 in Viet Nam.
• To the reunification of the country after the Viet Nam war it came in the eighties to a short hunger emergency, which caused many people, the country to leave.
• nineties: Hunger emergency in North Korea

Small Asia

• approx. 1200 v. Chr.: Hunger emergency in small Asia, testifies by mention of grain helping supplies to the Hethiterreich in sources of writing made of Egypt and Ugarit in Syria.

Africa

Hunger is far common also in the Africa of the modern time. Many countries produce not enough food and are dependent on imported goods. Climatic fluctuations, Bodenunfruchtbarkeit, erosion and grasshopper swarms can lead to harvest losses. Further factors of uncertainty are political instability, armed conflicts and civil wars, corruption and mismanagement, in addition a commercial policy, which damage the African agriculture. Finally AIDS has long-term economic effects on the agriculture, by dezimiert the population active in the agriculture.

• 1968-74 hunger emergency in the Sahelzone
• 1973 hunger emergency in Ethiopia
• 1982-85 hunger emergency in Ethiopia
• 1990-er years hunger emergency in the Sudan due to the civil war
• 2000 hunger emergency in Simbabwe
• 2005 hunger emergency in the Niger
• 2006 threatening hunger emergency in Ethiopia, Somalia and in the north Kenyas

Selected one of humans not produced hunger emergencies

(Estimations after Encyclopedia Britannica 1992)

Articles in category "Hunger emergency"

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