Exercise 1. Choose the correct ending to each sentence (according to the text)

Chapter 4. Famine

Key words and terms:

Famine Starvation To be prone Infection diseases Medical assistance Humanitarian Avert Wither Moderate Food aid

Shortage Death rate Unsanitary conditions Scarcity Compete Deteriorate Warfare Refugee Buying power Sap

Text 9. Famine and Food Aid

A famine is a severe shortage of food accompanied by a significant increase in the death rate. Famine is a clear signal that a society is either unable or unwilling to distribute food to all segments of its population. Two factors have been the immediate causes of famines in recent years - drought and warfare.

Drought is blamed for the famines in 1968 - 74 and again in 1984 - 85 in he Sahel region of West Africa. The Sahel is a broad belt of the Sahara Desert occupied by 50 million people. The region normally has enough rainfall to support dry grasslands or savannah ecosystems. The rainfall is seasonable and undependable, and it is prone to failure. Making matters worse, population increases in the region have led to unsound agricultural practices. The results were tragic: crops withered, watering places dried up, livestock died. Farmers began leaving their land and moving towards urban centres, where they were put into refugee camps. Unsanitary conditions in the camps and the already weakened condition of the refugees led to the spread of infectious diseases, and many thousands died before effective aid could be organised. The latest Sahelian famine is thought to have been responsible for 100,000 deaths.

Famines have continued to threaten African nations since the early 1990s: Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Mozambique, Angola, Chad, and Liberia. The common factor in these countries is war. Devastating and prolonged civil warfare has resulted in putting some 20 million people at risk of famine. In some areas the problem is made worse by persistent drought conditions. Governments in power maintain control over food and relief supplies; relief agencies operate under dangerous conditions and frequently experience casualties.

Famines from drought and war are clearly preventable, India, Kenya, and Brazil have coped effectively with droughts in recent years by mobilising effective relief in the form of food, clothing, and medical assistance. War, however, will undoubtedly continue to create severe hunger and famine conditions. The link between arms and hunger is a significant one. Direct military aid and the international sales of weapons have encouraged the continuation of military conflict in the Third World. Also, military spending competes with spending for human and environmental improvements in both rich and poor nations. And it is likely that international food aid will continue to be necessary.

What is the proper role of food aid? Clearly, aid is vitally important in saving lives where famine occurs. Numerous humanitarian efforts to end world hunger have been mounted in the last 50 years. A number of serious famines have been moderated or averted by these efforts. But on the other hand the food aid of industrial countries has done very much to sap the vitality of agriculture in developing countries. People will not pay more than they have to for food. Therefore, free or very cheap foreign food undercuts the local market. In effect, local farmers must compete economically with free or low-cost imported food. When they cannot earn profit, they stop producing and eventually enter the ranks of the poor. The cycle continues as people who sell goods to the farmer also suffer when the farmer loses buying power. In the long run, the entire local economy deteriorates. So, food aid will undoubtedly continue to be an international responsibility.

Exercise 1. Choose the correct ending to each sentence (according to the text).

1) The following factors have been the causes of famine:

a) rainfalls

b) increase of population

c) drought and wars

d) infection diseases

2) As a result of famine in the Sahel region

a) many thousands refugees died

b) local population started to use unsound agricultural practices

c) the effective aid could not be organized

d) farmers moved back from urban centres

3) Famines from drought and war