Famine

Famine is a condition characterized by a drastic and widespread shortage of food, often leading to increased associated diseases and increased mortality from hunger, as well as social dislocation and disruption more generally. Whereas famines are commonly associated with death from starvation, famines are best viewed as a continuum, with mass death being the most extreme form. Less severe forms of famine might involve other social crises such as mass migration, dislocation of people from their livelihoods, or society-wide economic recessions. Along this continuum, the pandemic of infectious diseases that typically arise in famine-struck areas is also an important driver of increased morbidity.

Famines may result from environmental, political, and social conditions including climate change, crop failure, market changes, or government or corporate policies regarding the ...