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Famine As the Outcome of Political Production and Market Failures

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Famine As the Outcome of Political Production and Market Failures FAMINE AS THE OUTCOME OF POLITICAL PRODUCTION AND MARKET FAILURES Joachim von Braun, Tesfaye Teklu and Patrick Webb 1 INTRODUCTION The most important institution at the micro-level - While most of the world has found ways to prevent the household, with its complex internal organiza- famine, Africa still has not.' But, learning from its tion and diverse macro-level linkages - must figure own experiences is at least as important for Africa as prominently in the study of famine, especially where adapting lessons from other continents. Not only state institutional capabilities remain weak. How- does the context of famine differ between Africa and ever, the failure of public action must not lead to other parts of the world, but the conditions thatadvocacy for reliance on household 'coping', the breed famine within Africa are constantly changing. cost of which usually includes suffering (Webb 1993). Africa's transforming economic and political sys- Famine risks posed by a 'weak state' and limitations tems, wars and civil unrest, declining productivity, for market-based private action suggest a continued and rapid urbanization, as well as their interaction need for improving the role of public action (Teklu, with each other and with environmental variables, von Braun,and Zaki 1991; Webb, von Braun and all create new famine risks.As a result, simple Yohannes 1992, Drèze and Sen 1990). explanations and general theories of famine and easy solutions remain elusive. The failure of households to cope with crises is closely linked to an absence of a legal framework to The systematic empirical study of famines is rela- protect personal security. The issue of security has tively recent in origin, especially in Africa. It was often been neglected or treated as exogenous by onlyin the early 1980s with the publication of Pov- development economists. Yet, it is a serious issue of erty and Famines (Sen 1981) that analysis of famine political economy that lies at the heart of an effective events received a more comprehensive theoretical famine prevention strategy. African famines are not foundation through explicit integration of house- explainable as short-term crisis events; they are more hold and market relationships and of the role of a function of long-term secular trends resulting from public action to support 'entitlements'. But, debate a failure of policy to deal appropriately with demo- over concepts that are only partially elaborated con- graphic, environmental, productivity, and political tinues. Conventional wisdom still has it that ending pressures, all of which make segments of society and wars will end famine, that food supply has little regions highly vulnerable to exogenous shocks. Wars bearing on food insecurity, that lowering popula- and civil unrest may become partially endogenous tion growth will increase food availability for all, to these determinants of vulnerability over time. and that optimal early warning of famine will pre- Optimal strategies for famine prevention must, there- vent famine. These simplistic propositions will only fore, build on a recognition that institutions and be overcome when empirical analyses are driven by their policies play a key role, and that long-term more clearly defined theories that expand the fron- forces are as relevant as short-term forces. tiers of our understanding and feed back into con- crete actions. While conditions may differ from country to coun- try,some generalizations must be attempted. This By following that route, the story will become more, article is too short to provide the proper context for rather than less, complex. Famine risk today is not a full fact-oriented study of institutional, produc- only a function of market and production failure but tion, market, consumption, and nutrition responses also of institutional and policy failure. Institutional before, during, and after famines as a basis for capabilities and the capacity of policy to respond in recommending policy action.Rather, this article a timely manner to crises are essential to prevent addresses some conceptual issues that have impor- famine. Thus, the study of famine must integrate tant policy implications and draws on selected ex- institutional, political, market, and production amples from more detailed studies published else- spheres, at both macro- and micro-levels. where.2 I The authors wish to thank Rajul Pandya-Lorch for her excellent 2 This article builds on detailed studies in Sudan and Ethiopia (see editorial assistance during the preparation of this article. Teklu; von Braun and Zaki 1991; Webb, von Braun and Yohannes 1992; von Braun 1991; Webb and Reardon 1992). 73 ids bulletin vol 24 no 4 1993 2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR TODAY'S Undernutrition represents nutrient deficiencies in a FAMINES diet leading to illness (lack of energy, retardation, or Unless a very high level of abstraction is chosen, a blindness) and even death. The symptoms them- theory of famine must relate to long-term historical selves may not be recognized as indications of nutri- and institutional factors coupled with disasters that ent deficiencies since interactions between are location and time specific. A general theory of undernutrition and diseases are complex. famine, therefore, has its limitations. Keeping this in mind, Sen's (1981) theory of entitlement failures Famine is widespread and extreme hunger that re- remains the most comprehensive general theory of sults in drastic loss of body weight, increase in famines to date. morbidity, and (as an interaction of these two symp- toms) a rise in death rate. Massive social dysfunction Before discussing the conceptual framework, a few and dislocation are important community-level definitional clarifications are in order. A clear dis- symptoms. The causes can be traced to shortage of tinction needs to be made between famine, food or inaccessibility to available food because of undernutrition, and hunger (including seasonal drought, natural disaster, political (war) or eco- hunger). Hunger, largely an advocacy rather than a nomic disruption, or massive income collapse asso- scientific term, is defined here as an individual's ciated with disruptions in factor (labour) or product inability to eat sufficient food to lead a healthy and (food) markets.Most frequently, famines result active life.It is a recurring feature of absolute from complex combinations of these factors. Fam- poverty, especially in developing countries.Sea- ines are mainly rural events that often occur in areas sonal hunger is often observed in rural areas during characterized by chronic undernutrition. preharvest seasons when food stocks are depleted and seasonal prices are high. Figure 1: Determinants of and Relationships in Famines I, V V (A) (B) (C) Policy Failures Resource Poverty, Climate Shocks Population Transition Economic strategy Resources of Weather, Population (1) and policy Discrimination, war country climate qrowth + + + Services, Transfers, Technology Asset infrastructures subsidies distribution V Production (level, stability) Asset markets Product Labour Financial markets markets markets + Income/consumption V strategy Col apse of Starvation services Mortality Note: (A), (B), and (C) are interrelated clusters of causes; (1), (2), (3), and (4) are levels of analysis. Adapted from Teklu, von Braun and Zaki (1991). 74 ids bulletin vol24no4 1993 Figure 1 attempts to delineate relationships between public policies are frequently associated with, and root causes and symptoms of famine events. Pov- highlighted by, low agricultural productivity; exten- erty, including the associated vulnerability to natu- sive environmental degradation partly because poor ral or man-made shocks, is a root cause of famine. households lacking alternative production technolo- Yet, poverty and its dynamics may be seen as an gies are forced to mine resources to survive in the endogenous outcome of lack of resources and flawed short term; lack of rural and urban nonagricultural policies. Endogenous and exogenous relationships employment opportunities, which limits nonfarm are conceptualized at different levels of analysis. incomes; limited access to education; and poor health The figure depicts broad interactions between policy and sanitation conditions. Resulting socioeconomic failures, resource poverty and disaster, and the popu- conditions impair the ability of households to grow lation transition process. Cause-and-effect relation- out of poverty, thereby permitting production fail- ships are then distinguished with some of the more ures caused by drought to develop into famines. important nonexhaustive indications of feedback mechanisms between the four levels of analysis. Inappropriate macroeconomic policies and exces- sive state interference in economic activity can exac- 1 The top layer represents economic strategy and erbate inherent food insecurity, as evident from the policy interacting with social discrimination, experiences of Sudan and Ethiopia. Exchange rate conflicts, and wars; resource endowments and regulations and export taxes historically have ad- their relationship to climate or disaster eventsversely affected rural economies in these countries, influencing levels of poverty and instability of not only by undermining general rural growth pros- the (food) system; and population growth. Little pects but also by impacting directly on specific comprehensive research exists on interactions communities. An example of a misguided policy between these three basic clusters in contributing comes from Sudan
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