Famine declared as a man-made disaster

On a Tuesday evening, a gathering has taken place to create awareness about starvation in Somalia and South Sudan at the Rift Valley  Institute Kileleshwa, Nairobi. The audience was a mix of diplomats and scholars who were eager to listen to Alex de Waal as he launched his new book, Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine.

The launch of the book was followed by a panel discussion on famine and humanitarian response in the Horn of Africa.

Alex de Waal explains in his book through research that famine in the horn of Africa is man-made. He said that politicians are the cause of famine because they stand to gain from it. According to him, political decisions could end starvation however it should be a priority in the international community as well.

There is a humanitarian crisis in the horn of Africa, according to De waal. He even mentions the causes of the famine through his slideshows that he used to prepare his audience for the topic. He analyzed starvation as a crime and came up with a conclusion that explained that starvation is taking place in the Horn of Africa to intentionally make people suffer. Famine is used as a tool for genocide during the war. He does not agree that famine is a natural disaster that has happened due to natural disasters or poor farming methods. The book talks about how starvation is linked to politics. He warms up the audience by talking about the Nazi people from Germany who died due to starvation during the first world and second world war (1914-1918). He showed a slideshow that has captivating pictures. The pictures are of adults and children who are malnourished due to lack of food. I suppose such images are to make the audience to have empathy towards people who are affected by famine and also to create change and do something about countries that are affected by starvation,

He wanted to show how history is repeating itself by politicians not respecting human rights and creating a humanitarian crisis.

He said, "Famine used to kill ten million people every decade but by the early 2000s it had all but disappeared. Today, famine is resurgent, driven by wars, food blockades, hostility to humanitarian principles and a volatile global economy".
Alex de Waal lays the blame for Africa’s problems with starvation on the political failings of African governments, western donors, and the misguided policies of international relief agencies.

The book describes how forced starvation has been used as 
an instrument of genocide and war and should, therefore, be considered a crime.

According to Bill Gates Foundation, an estimated 1,25 million people in South Sudan are on the brink of starvation, On the other hand, about 6.2 million people from Somalia have been affected by famine according to the United Nations.

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