Famine
Victims of the Russian famine of 1921–22 during the Russian Civil War
Famine is a situation where most people do not have enough food to eat. Without food, the human body grows weaker and weaker until the person becomes very sick or dies (see malnutrition). In poor countries with much subsistence farming such as in parts of Africa and Latin America, famine can be common.
Famous famines
- 1816, the Year without a Summer was caused by Mount Tambora erupting. Tens of thousands died.
- The Irish Potato Famine lasted from 1846 to 1849. It was caused by a potato blight.
- In the Holodomor, about 7 million of people starved to death in Ukraine in 1932 and 1933.
- The Great Leap Forward killed a few tens of millions of Chinese, in what was probably the biggest famine in history.
Famine Media
A woman, a man and a child, all three are dead due to starvation because of the Russian famine of 1921–1922
People waiting for famine relief in Bangalore, India (from the Illustrated London News, 1877)
Four Horsemen of Apocalypse, by Viktor Vasnetsov. Painted in 1887.
Famine-affected areas in the western Sahel belt during the 2012 drought.
Other websites
- Famine Early Warning System monitors agricultural production and other warning signs worldwide
- United Nations World Food Programme Hunger relief against poverty and famine
- International Food Policy Research Institute Sustainable solutions for ending hunger
- In Depth: Africa's Food Crisis, BBC News
