Kirk Andrews wrote:
> If you'd like a small taste of what it's like to try and feed your family in the
> places in the world that suffer starvation, try this simulation:
> 
> http://www.3rdworldfarmer.com/
> 
> 
> The problem is indeed complicated.  I do suggest you try the simulation--see how
> many times your family starves before you can make it work.
> 
> Another problem not yet addressed is the "brain drain."  Even if you are able to
> provide education, when someone in these nations is given an opportunity, they
> will often leave and go to more stable countries.  The result is that those who
> obtain education and might have been able to help the nation tend to leave, and
> never return.
> 
> History is also a large obstacle.  In many nations, the presence of Westerners
> is not a welcome one.  The long history of colonialism and Western
> ethno-centrism has a left a deep scar on much of the "third-world".  Even
> outright charitable gifts are suspect, and more complicated endeavors are even
> less trusted.
> 
> Famine is rarely caused by drought or the inability to produce food, because
> people settle in places where food is available.  Famine is caused by war,
> corruption, and other forms of societal injustice.  Unfortunately these
> problems are far more complicated, and there is no universal answer for all of
> them.

Actually, shortages of natively-produced food are generally caused by 
environmental conditions.  Political conditions, however, deprive the 
people of the ability to import food from elsewhere.

The only genuinely human-induced famines (and the only famines to strike 
industrialized nations) occurred in communist nations, whether due to 
the sheer incompetence of the communist system (China's Great Leap 
Forward starved millions) or malice of communist leaders (Lenin 
purposefully starved millions of people).

A review of preindustrial history reveals that in any given locale there 
was a famine about seven times per century, with the average famine 
lasting 1.5 years, and famines were such common affairs that only 
exceptionally bad ones were given much mention.  Until industrial times, 
people were generally taxed within an inch of their lives, and so they 
were dependent on the next harvest; if that failed, the chances of 
survival were dim.

Even nowadays, a few times every century, the local conditions cause the 
crops to fail here and there.  Droughts in the American midwest, for 
instance, have caused the harvests there to be sub-optimal more than 
once during my adult life.  But the difference now is that those farmers 
can buy food produced in other areas, and therefore aren't screwed.

Regards,
John

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