Problem Of Famine Research Paper

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According to Sen, famines are caused due to the loss (or deprivation) of a person’s entitlement (economic capability) to obtain food. The three main sources of entitlements are endowments, production possibilities, and exchange condition. When a group is deprived of their entitlements, that group losses the power to obtain the food needed to survive, therefore marking the beginning of hunger and eventually becoming a famine. Since famine prevention is dependent on political arrangements for entitlement protection (Sen 169), a democracy becomes the best form of government to prevent famines. As a matter of fact, no famine happens in democratic countries for the reason that in democracies there are free elections that generate political responsiveness, …show more content…
For one, governments respond to famine threats by creating a national system of ration shops, shops that provide basic dietary products that will help prevent or eradicate malnutrition. The problem with this system is that the people who are in charge of these shops are in the position of power, therefore they are in a position where they can rent-seek. As a result, crippling corruption spreads and the most affected are poor families who are in need. Those families are forced to forgo the goods they need considering they do not have the means to obtain what they need to …show more content…
In other words this shows that the causes of malnutrition are beyond the implementation of democracies. As it is evident, large scale famines were eradicated in every democratic nation around the world, although long-term problems like undernourishment are still present mostly caused by failures within the social system of government that distribute the means to prevent social problems like undernourishment. Additionally, it has to be considered that the free press is efficient to put pressure on issues when there are mass losses of life, but seems to be less responsive when an issue is prolonged as it is the case of persistent malnutrition. Society as a whole becomes less responsive when problem are prolonged, and that behavior is reflected in persistence of malnutrition in democratic and economically prosperous nations around the

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