Free Famine In Africa Term Paper Sample

Throughout the years, after suffering through several droughts, wars, and overall struggles within the country’s borders, famine has become a way of everyday life in Africa. There have been a great many famines in Africa’s history despite the ability of the land to grow and produce a variety of foods, but overall the struggles that Africans must go through, particularly those in select regions such as Somalia, Ethiopia, and other regions, is great enough that food is constantly scarce and crops are either destroyed, stolen, or made otherwise unavailable to those that need them. The only true chance that many Africans have for survival in this day and age is aid from outside their country.
Answers Africa has estimated that within the past several decades there were ten major eras of famine in which hundreds of thousands of people, adults and children alike, perished thanks to lack of food, clean water, and adequate care. (Answers Africa, 2013) Thanks to environmental factors such as erosion, desertification, constant water shortages and deforestation food sources in Africa have been scarce, and as a result millions of people per year go hungry and remain undernourished. Surprisingly however Africa has one of the most rapid birth rates as their population has exploded in recent years, doubling and tripling as women in Africa have been seen to give birth to roughly five children on average. (Hunger Notes, 2015)
The affected countries, notably Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and a few others that seem to be continually affected, suffer greatly during each famine, and it is common to see many families migrating towards other regions in order to find food and clean water in order to survive. Not everyone makes the trek, as by this time the lack of food has sapped what little strength that such shortages inherently cause. Yet for all that famine is a constant threat, it is still only declared when roughly 20 percent of those households within a given region are facing starvation and
malnutrition has been seen in thirty percent or more of the affected persons. Also, it is only declared when meeting these two guidelines as well as when it is noted that there are at least two fatalities for ever ten thousand people over consecutive days. (The Telegraph, 2015) It seems like a harsh and unforgiving manner by which to decide how serious a problem is, but given the population within each region there is really little that can be done to
Warfare is also a harsh reality of African life, as within the South Sudan, a relatively new, young country, millions of people have already been displaced by the constant warring between militant political factions. (Johnson, 2014) In the true nature of tyrants militant forces tend to commandeer what they need for their own troops, thereby stealing it either directly from the people who need it most or indirectly by bribing or otherwise convincing those who seek to bring relief to the beleaguered people that the supplies are better used for those who can fight for their country. In effect the soldiers who seem to dominate so much of Africa with so few numbers are far stronger than the people they subjugate for the simple fact that they are one of the main reasons for the famine. (Straziuso, 2013)
Much of the sub-Saharan region of Africa is underdeveloped country, prone to deforestation and desertification by the constantly arid climate and the lack of any true cohesion of its people. Life is exceedingly difficult within this country, and seen as little more than a burden to some, and even a horror to others. Despite its rapid population growth Africa is among the poorest nations, if not the poorest, in the world for the simple fact that it does not possess the resources necessary to keep its population maintained and adequately nourished. (Pankhurst, 1986)
Africa is not a hopeless cause, but it is a continent that is difficult to understand at times, as its soil is easily capable of supporting crops, and more often than not does. Yet for that simple fact, starvation is more common in several regions than an overabundance of food. The economy of the countries that suffer the worst famine are generally those that are oppressed, that suffer from continual struggle between political factions and militant groups that label themselves as freedom fighters. (Shipton, 1990) It is also important to note that within the countries that suffer the worst it can be seen that once the famines begin many upon many people migrate from their own country to another, thereby abandoning one land to overcrowd another, continuing the shortage as food, available land, and other resources are quickly depleted and yet another round of troubles begins.
Famine is not only about shortage, but also about the dehumanizing effect it has upon people, the ties it can break, and the changes it brings in human beings. A hungry belly is difficult to argue with when one is offered the chance to fill it by joining a militant group or being given a chance to travel elsewhere to become a servant of some sort. Those who have been through famine and survived can attest to the fact that even the closest ties are tested and at times broken thanks to constant hunger and hardship. While relief efforts are capable of offering help in times of great need they are not altogether beneficial as they are not always a continual source of aid, and will eventually cease once the nation providing the aid is content that they have done their best.
Famine has become a normal part of life in Africa, and is easy enough to notice from afar. While relief efforts have done their best to ease the still underdeveloped nations that suffer most into a new beginning, militant groups and ecological factors have conspired again and again to keep Africa as the arid dustbowl it remains, a place where people migrate from region to region or perish by the thousands from hunger and thirst. It is a harsh world, but nowhere is it as harsh as Africa.

References

10 Most Deadly Famines in Africa. (2013). Answers Africa. Retrieved from.
http://answersafrica.com/starvation-and-famine-in-africa.html
Africa Hunger and Poverty Facts. (2015). Hunger Notes. Retrieved from.
http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/africa_hunger_facts.htm
Africa famine: factfile. (2015). The Telegraph. Retrieved from.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/somalia/8721543/Africa-famine-factfile.html
Johnson, Scott. (2014). Why South Sudan May Face World's Worst Famine in Quarter Century.
National Geographic. Retrieved from.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140420-south-sudan-famine-africa-hunger-war-world/
Shipton, Parker. (1990). African Famines and Food Security: Anthropological Perspectives.
Annual Review of Anthropology, 19: p353-394.
Straziuso, Jason. (2013). Somalia Famine Killed 260,000, Report Estimates. The World Post.
Retrieved from.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/somalia-famine-2011_n_3177741.html
Pankhurst, Richard. (1986). The Ethiopian Famine: Cultural Survival’s New Report.
Anthropology Today, 2(3), p4-5.