Famine, Hunger, and Undernourishment

Abstract

Nowadays, at the height of the twenty-first century, the food crises (famine) continue as a global humanitarian tragedy. These crises are recognized and are mainly located in zones of the African continent, such as in the Horn of Africa where an endemic form persists. This does not mean, however, that other regions of the world are free from the risk of food crises. Generally, the risk persists primarily in developing countries with deficient economic transformations combined with problems of political instability, natural disasters, wars, and/or social conflicts. Several different explanatory paradigms have emerged, attempting to explain the causes of famines: demographic changes, climatic theories, food intervention decline, entitlement approach, and complex emergencies.