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Preventing famine: Policies and prospects for Africa
221
Book reviews
Second, some may take issue with the view that there was no ‘conspiracy’ behind the markets behavior. Most allegations of ‘man-made’ famine by the press were meant to suggest that the crisis was being created and exacerbated by a group of people who stood to benefit from it, namely, the traders and some powerful politicians. The bubble literature has discussed the possibility that markets may be destabilized when a group with sufficient market power attempts to do so. For the Bangladesh famine this possibility cannot be entirely ruled out. Third, the author fails to mention the role played by the ordinary consumer in possibly exacerbating the crisis as a result of panic-hoarding. In the Bangladesh setting this behavior can be looked upon as a form of selfinsurance, because few other avenues are available to reduce the important risk of starvation. Fourth, the author’s treatment of the macroeconomics of the problem is weak. Critics of Sen’s work have suggested that destabilizing speculation in the food markets cannot possibly be analyzed without considering the macroeconomic forces in the domestic and international scene. Newbery and Stiglitz in their book on commodity price stabilization have made some progress in this direction. There are a few omissions. The important work of H. Leibenstein on the relation between famines and economic development has been overlooked. When discussing famine-policies the author fails to discuss the policy of news blackout and that of controlling rural-urban migration, both of which have been used by public authorities in food crisis situations. Aside from these shortcomings, this is a fine book on an important topical issue. It is must reading for those interested in Development Economics, Agricultural Economics, and Economic History. The non-technical reader also has much to learn from this timely book.
University
of Southern
Indiana,
Munir Quddus Evansville, IN
Donald Curtis, Michael Hubbard and Andrew Shepherd (with contributions from Edward Clay, Hugh and Catherine Goyder, Barbara Harriss, Richard Morgan and Camilla Toulmin), Preventing Famine: Policies and Prospects for Africa (Routledge, New York, 1988) pp. xi + 250. This book, written by a group of mainly British based specialists, is about famine in Africa. It is concerned with two basic issues: first, how to prevent famine from occurring and second, how best to cope with it should it occur. The book is policy rather than theoretically oriented. Its stated objective is
22X
Book
reoierrs
to develop practical proposals for improving famine prevention and relief policy in Africa. After a brief introduction, the book begins in earnest in chapter 2 with an assessment of which African countries are most vulnerable to famine. The starting point is a list of countries which have been identified by various agencies as facing severe food problems. Aggregate statistics for these countries on food production and supply, GNP per capita and ‘import capacity’ are then presented and analyzed. Together with data on political stability, these aggregate statistics are used to construct a famine vulnerability ranking. While this ranking is, as the authors acknowledge, extremely rough and ready. it does provide useful background information. The next three chapters contain case studies of famine and famine prevention. The idea is to see what lessons may be learned from a detailed look at examples of failure and success in preventing famine. Chapter 3, written by Andrew Shepherd, examines the 1984-85 Sudan famine. It provides a fairly complete description of the development of the famine and the policy responses of both the Sudanese government and the international community. Chapter 4, written by Hugh and Catherine Goyder, discusses a further example of failure: the infamous 1984-85 Ethiopian famine. While very readable and containing a good discussion of the Ethiopian government’s controversial resettlement plan, it provides insufficient detail on some aspects of the famine. In particular, it would have been useful to know more about how relief was actually distributed and the availability of food in the market. Chapter 5 turns to cases of successful famine prevention: Richard Morgan describes Botswana’s efforts to relieve droughts in the early 1980s; Michael Hubbard outlines relief policy in the Indian state of Gujarat; and Edward Clay analyzes why Bangladesh, which suffered a major and devastating famine in 1974, was able to successfully combat a similar crisis in 1984. Morgan and Hubbard do an excellent job in describing the details of the early warning systems and relief strategies. Both authors, however, fail to sufficiently describe the details of the food marketing systems. As a consequence, the reader is left unclear abour price policy, export controls and storage policy. Clay’s piece, while interesting, would have been more informative if it had provided greater detail of the food security policies introduced in Bangladesh since 1974. It would have been useful at this stage to have a chapter summarizing the key policy lessons from the cases. While the individual cases provided valuable institutional detail, I was left without a clear sense of conclusion. The book does move on to discuss policy issues at this point, but the issues addressed are specific in nature and, furthermore, the discussion rarely refers back to the case studies. The first policy issue addressed is whether the Indian model of famine relief is suitable for Africa. As Hubbard discusses in the previous chapter,
Book
reaiews
229
India has developed a comprehensive system of famine prevention. Given the relative success of this system, it is natural to ask how transferable it is to Africa. Clay begins the chapter with a useful description and evaluation of the Indian system. In the second part of the chapter, Barbara Harriss picks up the issue of the suitability of the system for Africa. She identities some differences between India and Africa and discusses their implications for policy. One major difference is that the distribution of land is more equitable in Africa. I was disappointed that Harriss did not discuss the implications of this for targeting. Given the relative homogeneity of the rural population in Africa, perhaps it is not so important to screen out the unneedy by requiring those seeking relief to participate in public works, queue and so on. The next chapter, written by Camilla Toulmin, is concerned with livestock policy in the Sahel. Ideally, those affected by famine should not only be given sufficient aid to survive but also to preserve their livelihoods. If this is not done they will, in all likelihood, have to be supported in the future. In the Sahel, where many of those vulnerable to famine are pastoral herd-owners, this requires a livestock policy. While the chapter offers rather little in the way of concrete policy prescriptions, it does provide an interesting discussion of the issues. The three remaining chapters are also concerned with policy issues. Chapter 8 discusses the role that agricultural technology can play in increasing food production and food security. As someone unfamiliar with this area, I found it to be a reasonably informative survey of the issues. Chapter 9 is concerned with policies regarding access to and use of productive resources. It introduces the concept of ‘social entitlements’ (customary rights to resources) and discusses the determinants of these entitlements. While the concept is probably a useful one, I found the discussion unfocused and difficult to follow. Given the objectives of the book, it would have been more appropriate to have a down-to-earth account of, for example, the problems of overgrazing and deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa and what to do about them. Finally, in chapter 10 the book concludes with a discussion of how governments and other agencies can organize themselves to implement suitable famine prevention policies. Much could be said in favor of this book. Most of us would agree that its subject matter is of considerable importance. Moreover, since our understanding of what is effective in African famine policy is very incomplete, the book’s policy focus is extremely welcome. The case studies contained in the book provide useful institutional detail and the policy issues examined are important and often intelligently discussed. Despite all this, I found the book disappointing. First, it is poorly planned and coordinated. I have already mentioned the need for a chapter drawing out the lessons of the case studies. At the very least, the policy discussion should have built on the earlier descriptive material much more than it did. In its current form, the book
reads more like a collection of related papers and, as a consequence, the general policy recommendations are not clear. Second, and most importantly. the level of discussion in most of the book is too superficial. It is presumably obvious that successful famine prevention requires a good early warning system, schemes for distributing relief, appropriate food market interventions and policies to protect individuals’ livelihoods. Less obvious are the details of such policies. What makes a good early warning system‘? How should relief be allocated among individuals of different sex, age, and nutritional status‘? Should relief be given in cash or food? Under what conditions should public works be used to distribute relief‘? If public works are used, how should wages be set? Should the government introduce food price and;‘or export controls‘? Is it desirable for the government to introduce a food market stabilization scheme and. if so, should the market be stabilized through trade or storage’? These are the type of questions which must be answered if real headway is to be made on the problem of famine prevention. While it is clearly unrealistic to expect a book of this type to describe. let alone solve, all the problems, greater progress would have resulted had the discussion been more specific.
Kennedy
Alvin Rabushka, Mainland China, 1987).
School of Government.
Harvard
University.
Stephen Coate Cambridge, MA
The New China: Comparative Economic Development in Taiwan. and Hong Kong (Westview Press, Boulder, CO,
A comparison of economic policies, development strategies, and outcomes in three states in which these exhibit wide variation, but whose populations share a common cultural heritage, is a project of great intrinsic interest, The present book consists of major sections on the economies of mainland China, Taiwan. and Hong Kong, plus two explicitly comparative chapters, and an appendix discussing statistical sources and presenting some of the main economic data series on those economies. While political and historical context receive extensive attention. and while the author emphasizes the importance of economic organization and philosophy, the bulk of the discussion is concerned with macroeconomic and other state policies. Rabushka’s book could serve students as a reasonable point of departure for comparative study of the three Chinese economies. It presents relatively lively and informative discussions of politics and history, much factual references to other useful material on economic policies, and abundant sources. However, I have three reservations about the book.
Book reviews
Second, some may take issue with the view that there was no ‘conspiracy’ behind the markets behavior. Most allegations of ‘man-made’ famine by the press were meant to suggest that the crisis was being created and exacerbated by a group of people who stood to benefit from it, namely, the traders and some powerful politicians. The bubble literature has discussed the possibility that markets may be destabilized when a group with sufficient market power attempts to do so. For the Bangladesh famine this possibility cannot be entirely ruled out. Third, the author fails to mention the role played by the ordinary consumer in possibly exacerbating the crisis as a result of panic-hoarding. In the Bangladesh setting this behavior can be looked upon as a form of selfinsurance, because few other avenues are available to reduce the important risk of starvation. Fourth, the author’s treatment of the macroeconomics of the problem is weak. Critics of Sen’s work have suggested that destabilizing speculation in the food markets cannot possibly be analyzed without considering the macroeconomic forces in the domestic and international scene. Newbery and Stiglitz in their book on commodity price stabilization have made some progress in this direction. There are a few omissions. The important work of H. Leibenstein on the relation between famines and economic development has been overlooked. When discussing famine-policies the author fails to discuss the policy of news blackout and that of controlling rural-urban migration, both of which have been used by public authorities in food crisis situations. Aside from these shortcomings, this is a fine book on an important topical issue. It is must reading for those interested in Development Economics, Agricultural Economics, and Economic History. The non-technical reader also has much to learn from this timely book.
University
of Southern
Indiana,
Munir Quddus Evansville, IN
Donald Curtis, Michael Hubbard and Andrew Shepherd (with contributions from Edward Clay, Hugh and Catherine Goyder, Barbara Harriss, Richard Morgan and Camilla Toulmin), Preventing Famine: Policies and Prospects for Africa (Routledge, New York, 1988) pp. xi + 250. This book, written by a group of mainly British based specialists, is about famine in Africa. It is concerned with two basic issues: first, how to prevent famine from occurring and second, how best to cope with it should it occur. The book is policy rather than theoretically oriented. Its stated objective is
22X
Book
reoierrs
to develop practical proposals for improving famine prevention and relief policy in Africa. After a brief introduction, the book begins in earnest in chapter 2 with an assessment of which African countries are most vulnerable to famine. The starting point is a list of countries which have been identified by various agencies as facing severe food problems. Aggregate statistics for these countries on food production and supply, GNP per capita and ‘import capacity’ are then presented and analyzed. Together with data on political stability, these aggregate statistics are used to construct a famine vulnerability ranking. While this ranking is, as the authors acknowledge, extremely rough and ready. it does provide useful background information. The next three chapters contain case studies of famine and famine prevention. The idea is to see what lessons may be learned from a detailed look at examples of failure and success in preventing famine. Chapter 3, written by Andrew Shepherd, examines the 1984-85 Sudan famine. It provides a fairly complete description of the development of the famine and the policy responses of both the Sudanese government and the international community. Chapter 4, written by Hugh and Catherine Goyder, discusses a further example of failure: the infamous 1984-85 Ethiopian famine. While very readable and containing a good discussion of the Ethiopian government’s controversial resettlement plan, it provides insufficient detail on some aspects of the famine. In particular, it would have been useful to know more about how relief was actually distributed and the availability of food in the market. Chapter 5 turns to cases of successful famine prevention: Richard Morgan describes Botswana’s efforts to relieve droughts in the early 1980s; Michael Hubbard outlines relief policy in the Indian state of Gujarat; and Edward Clay analyzes why Bangladesh, which suffered a major and devastating famine in 1974, was able to successfully combat a similar crisis in 1984. Morgan and Hubbard do an excellent job in describing the details of the early warning systems and relief strategies. Both authors, however, fail to sufficiently describe the details of the food marketing systems. As a consequence, the reader is left unclear abour price policy, export controls and storage policy. Clay’s piece, while interesting, would have been more informative if it had provided greater detail of the food security policies introduced in Bangladesh since 1974. It would have been useful at this stage to have a chapter summarizing the key policy lessons from the cases. While the individual cases provided valuable institutional detail, I was left without a clear sense of conclusion. The book does move on to discuss policy issues at this point, but the issues addressed are specific in nature and, furthermore, the discussion rarely refers back to the case studies. The first policy issue addressed is whether the Indian model of famine relief is suitable for Africa. As Hubbard discusses in the previous chapter,
Book
reaiews
229
India has developed a comprehensive system of famine prevention. Given the relative success of this system, it is natural to ask how transferable it is to Africa. Clay begins the chapter with a useful description and evaluation of the Indian system. In the second part of the chapter, Barbara Harriss picks up the issue of the suitability of the system for Africa. She identities some differences between India and Africa and discusses their implications for policy. One major difference is that the distribution of land is more equitable in Africa. I was disappointed that Harriss did not discuss the implications of this for targeting. Given the relative homogeneity of the rural population in Africa, perhaps it is not so important to screen out the unneedy by requiring those seeking relief to participate in public works, queue and so on. The next chapter, written by Camilla Toulmin, is concerned with livestock policy in the Sahel. Ideally, those affected by famine should not only be given sufficient aid to survive but also to preserve their livelihoods. If this is not done they will, in all likelihood, have to be supported in the future. In the Sahel, where many of those vulnerable to famine are pastoral herd-owners, this requires a livestock policy. While the chapter offers rather little in the way of concrete policy prescriptions, it does provide an interesting discussion of the issues. The three remaining chapters are also concerned with policy issues. Chapter 8 discusses the role that agricultural technology can play in increasing food production and food security. As someone unfamiliar with this area, I found it to be a reasonably informative survey of the issues. Chapter 9 is concerned with policies regarding access to and use of productive resources. It introduces the concept of ‘social entitlements’ (customary rights to resources) and discusses the determinants of these entitlements. While the concept is probably a useful one, I found the discussion unfocused and difficult to follow. Given the objectives of the book, it would have been more appropriate to have a down-to-earth account of, for example, the problems of overgrazing and deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa and what to do about them. Finally, in chapter 10 the book concludes with a discussion of how governments and other agencies can organize themselves to implement suitable famine prevention policies. Much could be said in favor of this book. Most of us would agree that its subject matter is of considerable importance. Moreover, since our understanding of what is effective in African famine policy is very incomplete, the book’s policy focus is extremely welcome. The case studies contained in the book provide useful institutional detail and the policy issues examined are important and often intelligently discussed. Despite all this, I found the book disappointing. First, it is poorly planned and coordinated. I have already mentioned the need for a chapter drawing out the lessons of the case studies. At the very least, the policy discussion should have built on the earlier descriptive material much more than it did. In its current form, the book
reads more like a collection of related papers and, as a consequence, the general policy recommendations are not clear. Second, and most importantly. the level of discussion in most of the book is too superficial. It is presumably obvious that successful famine prevention requires a good early warning system, schemes for distributing relief, appropriate food market interventions and policies to protect individuals’ livelihoods. Less obvious are the details of such policies. What makes a good early warning system‘? How should relief be allocated among individuals of different sex, age, and nutritional status‘? Should relief be given in cash or food? Under what conditions should public works be used to distribute relief‘? If public works are used, how should wages be set? Should the government introduce food price and;‘or export controls‘? Is it desirable for the government to introduce a food market stabilization scheme and. if so, should the market be stabilized through trade or storage’? These are the type of questions which must be answered if real headway is to be made on the problem of famine prevention. While it is clearly unrealistic to expect a book of this type to describe. let alone solve, all the problems, greater progress would have resulted had the discussion been more specific.
Kennedy
Alvin Rabushka, Mainland China, 1987).
School of Government.
Harvard
University.
Stephen Coate Cambridge, MA
The New China: Comparative Economic Development in Taiwan. and Hong Kong (Westview Press, Boulder, CO,
A comparison of economic policies, development strategies, and outcomes in three states in which these exhibit wide variation, but whose populations share a common cultural heritage, is a project of great intrinsic interest, The present book consists of major sections on the economies of mainland China, Taiwan. and Hong Kong, plus two explicitly comparative chapters, and an appendix discussing statistical sources and presenting some of the main economic data series on those economies. While political and historical context receive extensive attention. and while the author emphasizes the importance of economic organization and philosophy, the bulk of the discussion is concerned with macroeconomic and other state policies. Rabushka’s book could serve students as a reasonable point of departure for comparative study of the three Chinese economies. It presents relatively lively and informative discussions of politics and history, much factual references to other useful material on economic policies, and abundant sources. However, I have three reservations about the book.