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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Political Economy of Famine in Sudan and the Horn of Africa
Author:Prendergast, JohnISNI
Year:1991
Periodical:Issue
Volume:19
Issue:2
Period:Summer
Pages:49-55
Language:English
Geographic terms:Sudan
Northeast Africa
Subjects:political economy
land law
agricultural policy
famine
Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
Politics and Government
Economics and Trade
international relations
Military, Defense and Arms
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/1166336
Abstract:Over 300,000 Sudanese perished primarily from hunger during 1988-1989 in one of the most avoidable human tragedies in recent history. Many of the seeds leading to the present crisis were sown in previous decades by government agricultural and land tenure policies. Since the early 1970s foreign governments, agribusiness firms, multilateral banks and development agencies, in cooperation with the governmental and commercial elite in Sudan, have encouraged policies which have led to the massive displacement of people, the destruction of the ecology and the deterioration of the position of the Sudanese peasant producer in the rural economy to the point where the slightest variation of rainfall can lead to a rise in food prices, which immediately triggers famine conditions. The economic, social and political effects of the export-led growth model advocated by IMF and World Bank are becoming increasingly graphic. Food production for local consumption fell sharply during the 1980s. Despite numerous major devaluations since 1978, the balance of payments, inflation and the budget were not affected as positively as projected. The economic trends that have resulted since the beginning of the adjustment period are bleak. In conclusion, suggestions are made for new donor policies, which should allow the peoples of the Horn to resolve their own conflicts and determine their own patterns of socioeconomic development. Ref.
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