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The world food problem: 1950–1980
Book reviews
its own unique features of climate, soils, land tenure patterns and cultures, but his thorough and nicelybillion (probably ‘an exaggerated ‘fi- balanced evaluations need to be stugure), but the usual number seems to died. It is trite to observe that these are huge continents, but his analyses settle around 500 million during the cause us to reflect on the considerable 1950-1980 period. variations in the different phases of He takes a careful look at the the farming operation which must be population-poverty controversy and observed and evaluated. His comsensibly finds that both must be emphasized. One hardly ‘needs to be a’ ments on slash and burn agriculture in Africa were unique to me (if the Malthusian to believe that the vast fallow period is adequate the land increases in population are a contributing factor, especially in the de- continues to be reasonably productive, but the periods are becoming veloping world (meaning Africa, Asia progressively shorter). Africa, of and Latin America) where the populacourse, is the conundrum today; agrition almost doubled in the 1950-1980 period - from almost 1.7 billion to cultural production increases are not stagnant, to be sure, but they are not nearly 3.3 billion. Even in the industkeeping pace with the high rates of rial (so-called developed) nations growth. Ways must be there was a population increase of 300 population found to accelerate the former and million during this same period. decelerate the latter. Although the absolute number of hungry persons remains about the same in 1980 as was estimated in 1950, this Controversy status quo condition, viewed relative to the huge increases in population, is Likewise, his review of the ‘peasant and capitalist’ controversy in Latin impressive. The amazing improveAmerica is judicious and wellments in food production are recounted and explained, at least in balanced. Expansion of arable land is a realistic alternative on that contigeneral terms. Grigg also reviews the ‘arable land’ nent, but there are numerous unsolved ecological problems connected controversy. (Are production increases due primarily to an increase in therewith. Asian agriculture is often touted as the hectares of land brought under the success story of the 1980s and cultivation, or have they been caused there are solid grounds for measured by a scientific-technological revoluoptimism, but he emphasizes that land tion in Third World agriculture?) expansion is not really a viable And, again, his perceptive examination makes us see the complexities alternative in Asia, although increases which are involved in trying to answer in mixed-cropping and doublecropping must be taken into account. the question. Also, numerically the major hunger His chapter on ‘Agricultural deproblem in the world is still centered velopment in the developed countries in South Asia. His review of the rural since 1945’ doesn’t bring forth many surprises, although he notes that the labour situation in China was a revelaincreases in per hectare yields, in tion to me. The Chinese ‘responsibility system’ (the peasant farmer as a livestock production, and in output per manhour must be viewed as budding capitalist!) has produced at least minor miracles, but if it ‘becomes ‘dramatic’. Perhaps we might even speculate that they have been overly established’, then ‘ . . . some 50 per dramatic, although he doesn’t investicent of the Chinese labour force in agriculture will be superfluous’. gate that possibility. Grigg then takes a detailed look, The penultimate chapter (‘Trade chapter by chapter, of the changes in and aid’) is not one of the book’s highlights, but his examination of the agricultural production and consumpdramatic increase in food imports tion in ‘tropical’ Africa, Latin America and Asia. It could be anticipated (particularly into Africa) points to a that each continent is characterized by matter of major concern. However, he
A history of ,hu.nger THE WORLD FOOD PROBLEM: 1950-l 980 by David Grigg
Basil Blackwell, Oxford, UK, 1984, 276 PP
This is a straightforward, nonpolemical, carefully documented and well-written study of the world food problem, with particular emphasis on the period of 1950-1980. David Grigg is concerned with ‘what has happened’ during those three decades; he ‘does not predict’, nor does he claim ‘that there is one overriding cause of hunger’, although his preference in the search for the most significant causal factor is clearly on the side of poverty. In a nutshell, ‘the world food problem since 1950 is that a large proportion of the population of Africa, Asia and Latin America is either undernourished or malnourished or both’. Grigg then proceeds in a systematic manner to explain why this is so. As a prelude there is an interesting chapter (‘A short history of hunger’) to provide the reader with a historical perspective. According to Grigg, hunger was viewed for centuries as a kind of inevitable human condition, sometimes more severe than others (eg Europe was better fed in the 14th15th centuries than from the 16th through the 18th). Indeed, it was not until the second world war allies meaning, in this instance, principally the UK and the USA - began to be seriously concerned about a ‘world food problem’ that the topic was publicly considered. Why this was so is not closely examined, but such was not his objective. Grigg explains that the issue of ‘the extent of hunger’ is not finally answerable. The science of nutrition is of an early 20th century origin, and continues to be a developing, still uncertain, scientific (should we say quasiscientific?) discipline. One finds that ostensibly reliable authorities differ greatly as to the extent of hunger, anywhere from 20 million (surely too low an estimate) to well over one
184
FOOD POLICY May 1988
Book reviews
does continue his customary evenhandedness in reviewing the selfsufficiency argument. Imports may make sound economic sense, if one can afford to pay for them, and therein is the rub. Grigg does move a bit too quickly in his observations that . . food aid would be more beneficial in terms of untied financial grants an exor loans’, and then footnotes treme anti-food aid source to substantiate his claim concerning ‘current opinion’ on that topic. Politics continues to be the art of the possible, not the search for utopias. His two concluding statements are quite in character: In an age of unprecedented growth, hitherto
tion of those under-nourished has declined. This may not be good enough, but it is a considerable
achievement.
One might wish he had said that ‘this is not good enough’, but let us end on a different kind of quibble to an otherwise excellent piece of research and writing. Grigg might next utilize his extensive analytical talents to investigate the human factors which are involved in making and mitigating ‘the world food problem’. More emphasis on social geography should only be an acceptable challenge to one of his proven and considerable talents!
Ross f3. Talbot Department of Political Science Iowa State University, IA, USA
population
food output has also increased at unknown rates, and the propor-
Ethiopa’s secret famine ETHIOPIA: THE CHALLENGE HUNGER
OF
by Graham Hancock Victor Gollancz, 127 pp, E3.95
London,
UK, 1985,
The African continent is in crisis Ethiopia in particular. Many people believe that this state of affairs has been brought about by the rapid deforestation which has been taking place in Africa resulting in ecological imbalances. These imbalances have adversely affected environmental as well as geographical conditions. The resulting low levels of productivity and production have caused the starvation of millions. This book is the outcome of the author’s long experience in East Africa as a correspondent of the The Economist. The study analyses the dynamics of the world’s worst disaster and its causes, and argues that it could have been avoided. At the outset, the author tries to paint a complete and accurate picture of Ethiopia’s worst human tragedy: A culture is dying in Ethiopia. A complete way of life, virtually unassailed for 3000 years, is coming to an end. The Abyssinian high plateau, known to the ancient Greeks as a ‘cool celestial island’ is turning to dust,
FOOD POLICY May 1986
merging into the barren and stony deserts that surround it. As it does so, the human population that it has supported for so long are blowing away too. Having slaughtered their draught oxen and eaten their seed grain, the people are leaving forever their eroded fields and terraces and pouring in countless thousands into squalid, undersupplied feeding camps.
He further
states
that:
Such things have happened before - in other countries, to other people. But possibly they have never happened on such a scale and certainly they have never happened amidst such a glare of publicity. It will not be out of place to say that Ethiopia’s famine is the world’s worst famine which humanity has ever seen. It is the
author’s
view
that
exposing
showed the deliberate efforts of the Ethiopian government to keep secret a famine that had raged in the highlands for two years, killing two million people. He makes accusations that ‘apparently the emperor had felt that it was in bad taste for the world to know that Ethiopians were dying of hunger’. However, once the severity of the Ethiopian famine was realized, the response of the rest of the world was unprecedented. Part I includes three chapters ‘Diversity and contrasts’, ‘The emperor and the revolution’ and ‘Guns and butter’. These highlight the various ‘the
hidden
hunger’
facets of the Ethiopian economy and bring out the rapid decline experienced since 1983. Mr Hancock introduces another element when he states that the ‘two superpowers and their allies are keenly interested in what has happened in Ethiopia’. But, he argues, this is not out of concern for the economic welfare of the Ethiopian people, but self-interest: Ethiopia occupies a strategic position in the African region. Part II presents a detailed account of different segments of Ethiopia’s famine. First, it traces the history .of famines in Ethiopia from 1252 up to 1972/74. During this period, there were both plagues and droughts showing that famines have become part and parcel of the Ethiopian economy. It also shows that little has been done to combat famine over the years. The present famine in Ethiopia shocked and surprised millions of people around the world. Mr Hancock believes that ‘the story was old hat to aid workers in the country itself, however, and to the staff of Ethiopian Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (ERRC) who had been issuing warnings of the impending disaster for three years’. The question is, why were these warnings ignored?
Famine relief Part III of the book deals with famine relief. It analyses what can be done and what should be done in this respect. In my view, we should consider what must be done? The situation is now so serious that immediate action is required. It is vital to examine Ethiopia’s plight within the global context. People in the UK, the USA, Western Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand made substantially charitable donations. On the contrary, the response of some Western governments was disappointing. Indeed, the Chief Administrator of the US Agency for International Development showed little sympathy in saying that, ‘Ethiopia should stop its resettlement programme immediately, because the money and resources should be used to help the millions facing starvation’.
185
its own unique features of climate, soils, land tenure patterns and cultures, but his thorough and nicelybillion (probably ‘an exaggerated ‘fi- balanced evaluations need to be stugure), but the usual number seems to died. It is trite to observe that these are huge continents, but his analyses settle around 500 million during the cause us to reflect on the considerable 1950-1980 period. variations in the different phases of He takes a careful look at the the farming operation which must be population-poverty controversy and observed and evaluated. His comsensibly finds that both must be emphasized. One hardly ‘needs to be a’ ments on slash and burn agriculture in Africa were unique to me (if the Malthusian to believe that the vast fallow period is adequate the land increases in population are a contributing factor, especially in the de- continues to be reasonably productive, but the periods are becoming veloping world (meaning Africa, Asia progressively shorter). Africa, of and Latin America) where the populacourse, is the conundrum today; agrition almost doubled in the 1950-1980 period - from almost 1.7 billion to cultural production increases are not stagnant, to be sure, but they are not nearly 3.3 billion. Even in the industkeeping pace with the high rates of rial (so-called developed) nations growth. Ways must be there was a population increase of 300 population found to accelerate the former and million during this same period. decelerate the latter. Although the absolute number of hungry persons remains about the same in 1980 as was estimated in 1950, this Controversy status quo condition, viewed relative to the huge increases in population, is Likewise, his review of the ‘peasant and capitalist’ controversy in Latin impressive. The amazing improveAmerica is judicious and wellments in food production are recounted and explained, at least in balanced. Expansion of arable land is a realistic alternative on that contigeneral terms. Grigg also reviews the ‘arable land’ nent, but there are numerous unsolved ecological problems connected controversy. (Are production increases due primarily to an increase in therewith. Asian agriculture is often touted as the hectares of land brought under the success story of the 1980s and cultivation, or have they been caused there are solid grounds for measured by a scientific-technological revoluoptimism, but he emphasizes that land tion in Third World agriculture?) expansion is not really a viable And, again, his perceptive examination makes us see the complexities alternative in Asia, although increases which are involved in trying to answer in mixed-cropping and doublecropping must be taken into account. the question. Also, numerically the major hunger His chapter on ‘Agricultural deproblem in the world is still centered velopment in the developed countries in South Asia. His review of the rural since 1945’ doesn’t bring forth many surprises, although he notes that the labour situation in China was a revelaincreases in per hectare yields, in tion to me. The Chinese ‘responsibility system’ (the peasant farmer as a livestock production, and in output per manhour must be viewed as budding capitalist!) has produced at least minor miracles, but if it ‘becomes ‘dramatic’. Perhaps we might even speculate that they have been overly established’, then ‘ . . . some 50 per dramatic, although he doesn’t investicent of the Chinese labour force in agriculture will be superfluous’. gate that possibility. Grigg then takes a detailed look, The penultimate chapter (‘Trade chapter by chapter, of the changes in and aid’) is not one of the book’s highlights, but his examination of the agricultural production and consumpdramatic increase in food imports tion in ‘tropical’ Africa, Latin America and Asia. It could be anticipated (particularly into Africa) points to a that each continent is characterized by matter of major concern. However, he
A history of ,hu.nger THE WORLD FOOD PROBLEM: 1950-l 980 by David Grigg
Basil Blackwell, Oxford, UK, 1984, 276 PP
This is a straightforward, nonpolemical, carefully documented and well-written study of the world food problem, with particular emphasis on the period of 1950-1980. David Grigg is concerned with ‘what has happened’ during those three decades; he ‘does not predict’, nor does he claim ‘that there is one overriding cause of hunger’, although his preference in the search for the most significant causal factor is clearly on the side of poverty. In a nutshell, ‘the world food problem since 1950 is that a large proportion of the population of Africa, Asia and Latin America is either undernourished or malnourished or both’. Grigg then proceeds in a systematic manner to explain why this is so. As a prelude there is an interesting chapter (‘A short history of hunger’) to provide the reader with a historical perspective. According to Grigg, hunger was viewed for centuries as a kind of inevitable human condition, sometimes more severe than others (eg Europe was better fed in the 14th15th centuries than from the 16th through the 18th). Indeed, it was not until the second world war allies meaning, in this instance, principally the UK and the USA - began to be seriously concerned about a ‘world food problem’ that the topic was publicly considered. Why this was so is not closely examined, but such was not his objective. Grigg explains that the issue of ‘the extent of hunger’ is not finally answerable. The science of nutrition is of an early 20th century origin, and continues to be a developing, still uncertain, scientific (should we say quasiscientific?) discipline. One finds that ostensibly reliable authorities differ greatly as to the extent of hunger, anywhere from 20 million (surely too low an estimate) to well over one
184
FOOD POLICY May 1988
Book reviews
does continue his customary evenhandedness in reviewing the selfsufficiency argument. Imports may make sound economic sense, if one can afford to pay for them, and therein is the rub. Grigg does move a bit too quickly in his observations that . . food aid would be more beneficial in terms of untied financial grants an exor loans’, and then footnotes treme anti-food aid source to substantiate his claim concerning ‘current opinion’ on that topic. Politics continues to be the art of the possible, not the search for utopias. His two concluding statements are quite in character: In an age of unprecedented growth, hitherto
tion of those under-nourished has declined. This may not be good enough, but it is a considerable
achievement.
One might wish he had said that ‘this is not good enough’, but let us end on a different kind of quibble to an otherwise excellent piece of research and writing. Grigg might next utilize his extensive analytical talents to investigate the human factors which are involved in making and mitigating ‘the world food problem’. More emphasis on social geography should only be an acceptable challenge to one of his proven and considerable talents!
Ross f3. Talbot Department of Political Science Iowa State University, IA, USA
population
food output has also increased at unknown rates, and the propor-
Ethiopa’s secret famine ETHIOPIA: THE CHALLENGE HUNGER
OF
by Graham Hancock Victor Gollancz, 127 pp, E3.95
London,
UK, 1985,
The African continent is in crisis Ethiopia in particular. Many people believe that this state of affairs has been brought about by the rapid deforestation which has been taking place in Africa resulting in ecological imbalances. These imbalances have adversely affected environmental as well as geographical conditions. The resulting low levels of productivity and production have caused the starvation of millions. This book is the outcome of the author’s long experience in East Africa as a correspondent of the The Economist. The study analyses the dynamics of the world’s worst disaster and its causes, and argues that it could have been avoided. At the outset, the author tries to paint a complete and accurate picture of Ethiopia’s worst human tragedy: A culture is dying in Ethiopia. A complete way of life, virtually unassailed for 3000 years, is coming to an end. The Abyssinian high plateau, known to the ancient Greeks as a ‘cool celestial island’ is turning to dust,
FOOD POLICY May 1986
merging into the barren and stony deserts that surround it. As it does so, the human population that it has supported for so long are blowing away too. Having slaughtered their draught oxen and eaten their seed grain, the people are leaving forever their eroded fields and terraces and pouring in countless thousands into squalid, undersupplied feeding camps.
He further
states
that:
Such things have happened before - in other countries, to other people. But possibly they have never happened on such a scale and certainly they have never happened amidst such a glare of publicity. It will not be out of place to say that Ethiopia’s famine is the world’s worst famine which humanity has ever seen. It is the
author’s
view
that
exposing
showed the deliberate efforts of the Ethiopian government to keep secret a famine that had raged in the highlands for two years, killing two million people. He makes accusations that ‘apparently the emperor had felt that it was in bad taste for the world to know that Ethiopians were dying of hunger’. However, once the severity of the Ethiopian famine was realized, the response of the rest of the world was unprecedented. Part I includes three chapters ‘Diversity and contrasts’, ‘The emperor and the revolution’ and ‘Guns and butter’. These highlight the various ‘the
hidden
hunger’
facets of the Ethiopian economy and bring out the rapid decline experienced since 1983. Mr Hancock introduces another element when he states that the ‘two superpowers and their allies are keenly interested in what has happened in Ethiopia’. But, he argues, this is not out of concern for the economic welfare of the Ethiopian people, but self-interest: Ethiopia occupies a strategic position in the African region. Part II presents a detailed account of different segments of Ethiopia’s famine. First, it traces the history .of famines in Ethiopia from 1252 up to 1972/74. During this period, there were both plagues and droughts showing that famines have become part and parcel of the Ethiopian economy. It also shows that little has been done to combat famine over the years. The present famine in Ethiopia shocked and surprised millions of people around the world. Mr Hancock believes that ‘the story was old hat to aid workers in the country itself, however, and to the staff of Ethiopian Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (ERRC) who had been issuing warnings of the impending disaster for three years’. The question is, why were these warnings ignored?
Famine relief Part III of the book deals with famine relief. It analyses what can be done and what should be done in this respect. In my view, we should consider what must be done? The situation is now so serious that immediate action is required. It is vital to examine Ethiopia’s plight within the global context. People in the UK, the USA, Western Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand made substantially charitable donations. On the contrary, the response of some Western governments was disappointing. Indeed, the Chief Administrator of the US Agency for International Development showed little sympathy in saying that, ‘Ethiopia should stop its resettlement programme immediately, because the money and resources should be used to help the millions facing starvation’.
185