Question

2. “Famine is a natural occurrence.” Explain what is wrong with this statement by drawing on examples of famines in two different world regions. 500 words

Answer 1

The calamity of Famine occurs when any state, community, region or country suffers from scarcity of food supplies which is caused by several factors , such as failure of crop production, population imbalance, inflation , wars scenario, wrong government policies etc, but quoting it as " Famine is a natural occurrence" in general is in fact a wrong statement .

I would like to draw some attention towards the worst famine cases which happened in the past but not due to any natural causes m instead by wrong governmental policies or intolerance.

The great famine of Bengal in the eighteenth century when the Indians were under British rule and they were treated very pathetically. The English East India Company took over power in Bengal after defeating Siraj-ud-Daulah in1757, the English East India company looted all the Bengal treasury and sent to its sitting her majesty in London. the company made the Bengal treasury zero, as a result, its treasury could not assist people of Bengal at that time of need.

approximately half of the Bengal's population died due to merciless and inhuman policy of the company's rule. more than ten million people of the state died due to hunger and disease. at that time when Famine was at its peak in the year of 1770, the company further increased their cruelty and announced 10% hike in the land tax, the taxes on the value of total agricultural produce was revised from 10%  to 50%

further greed for profit of the company discouraged farmers from the cultivation of food crops and destroyed them.  and the company forbade the hoarding of rice and ordered them to plant indigo.

so when Famine approached food reserves and stocks were at very short and unable to meet the requirements .ultimately many many died of famine which was primary caused by poor governmental policies and not by natural consequences.

another picture of famine which did not occur by natural consequence but due human exploitation and blunders in the past was the Vietnam Famine of 1945 , which also took millions of lives ,as a protectorate under the France , Vietnam was under the colonial rule for much of the world war 2, as Japanese expansion began in Indochina Vietnam was taken for the Japanese and a collaborationist French government sided with the Japanese . moreover the agricultural focus shifted from subsistence to war materials ,specifically rubber . the Japanese exploited what little crop farms remained and the invading forces commandeered most of these crops. this teamed with an unbearable drought followed by biblical flooding , caused mass starvation across much of northern Vietnam the resulting famine killed 2 million of Vietnam.