Briefly outline the causes and effects of famine in developing Essay - 1

Briefly outline the causes and effects of famine in developing countries - Essay Example It provides equal opportunities to all to live their lives to the fullest extent, but at the same time natural disasters and other vagaries of nature try to snuff out the very same life. In this essay we shall confine ourselves to how famines affect human civilization, what are the reasons of famine and how could we control them. The occurrence of famines in the developing countries of this world and the reasons thereof will be studied with analysis of the current research available on the topic. Man has harnessed the resources available on Earth to fulfil his basic needs by the use of science and technology. The foremost basic need is that of food and water without which life is impossible. Historically man was a nomadic animal who travelled from place to place in search of palatable food until his ingenuity led him to the practice of growing food which ultimately resulted in the modern practice of agriculture. However primitive agriculture was not sufficient to meet the needs of all mankind. Social peculiarities, cultural influences and the topography of the land masses influenced the practice of agriculture and it was not until the twentieth century that modern and scientific agriculture became a reality. This development was however only in the prosperous and developed countries of the world while the other regions are still struggling to meet their food requirements. Famines or acute shortage of food has therefore occurred with alarming regularity in the underdeveloped and the developing countries of the world. Cox G.W. (1981) defines famine as â€Å"the regional failure of food production or distribution systems leading to sharply increased mortality due to starvation and associated diseases.† Food production in most of the world is dependent on the availability of fertile land mostly near the major rivers as water is an integral necessity for good agriculture. Other regions depend on rainfall to meet their irrigation