L5

Question 1

Amartya Sen

Answer 1

Capabilities Framework
Indian
won Nobel Prize in 1998
PhD philosophy
books:
- poverty and famines
- development as freedom
- the argumentative indian
- the country of first boys

Question 2

Food availability decline (FAD)

Answer 2

This approach assumes famines are caused by a sudden sharp drop in per capita food supply, triggered by natural disasters, wars, or epidemics that shrink the food supply
- price goes up and cannot consume sufficient calories and nutrition
- fixation on food supplies; the Malthusian logic of “too many people, too little food”,
- the inability of groups of people to aqcuire food

Question 3

view of soup kitchen’s in the 20th century

Answer 3

the nutrition and calories calculations were not part of providing the food, but instead more like a “moral economy”

Question 4

Entitlement failure 1 (Sen, 1984)

Answer 4

there is no particular one reason for famine. it reflects widespread failure of entitlements for a substantial section of a population;
meaning the inability of a population segment to access essential goods through legal means (such as endowment or exchange entitlement).

Question 5

“endowment”

Answer 5

refers to the resources or assets a person owns, such as land, livestock, money or skills; it determines what you initially possess and what opportunities you have to use those resources to aqcuire goods or services

Question 6

“entitlement”

Answer 6

a person’s right to obtain goods or services by using their endowment through legal channels; it concerns what someone can purchase or acquire with the resources they own. this can happen through trade, wages, or selling property

Question 7

FAD approach VS Entitlement approach

Answer 7

FAD: Famine is due to food shortages.

Entitlement: Famine is due to people’s inability to access food, even when food is available.

Famine is not just about food scarcity but about economic, social, and political systems that determine who has the means to obtain food.

Question 8

types of entitlements

Answer 8

1. production based (growing)
2. trade based (buying food)
3. own-labor (working for food)
4. inheritance and transfer (given by others)

Question 9

types of entitlement decline or failure

Answer 9

direct = loss of food crop
trade = rising prices (AFG), failing wages (rural areas), wars (Ukraine war)

Question 10

Entitlement failure 2

Answer 10

food supply VS food access
food insecurity affects people who cannot access adequate food irrespective of food production; a famine can occur even if food supplies are adequate and markets are functioning well

“starvation is a matter of some people not having enough food to eat, and not a matter of there being not enough food to eat” (Sen, 1981:434)

Question 11

Why do markets not ensure subsistence needs are met?

Answer 11

• markets have no technical, moral, or legal obligation to meet basic needs
• they operate on ‘supply and demand’, not on guaranteeing access to essentials like food
• Marxist Tradition (Sen, 1981): markets prioritize profit and socio-economic class interests over the welfare of the poor

Question 12

Entitlement approach 2

Answer 12

• shift from large groups to individual entitlements to commodity bundles; including food (basic and primitive right)
• famine = “decline in entitlements for a group of people”
• focuses on starvation; distinct from famine mortality (famine deaths in most cases are caused by epidemic; induced partly by famine but also because of population movement, breakdown of sanitary facilities)

Question 13

Why did all major famines happen?

Answer 13

drought (based on the ‘food availability decline’ approach)

Question 14

The Bengal Famine (1943-1944)

Answer 14

Zamindari system: The british government > Zamindars > Peasants
5 reasons:
1. natural hazard
2. rice shortage
3. foreign dominance
4. feudalism
5. prioritization of urban areas

Question 15

Sen’s arguments about The Bengal Famine (1943-1944)

Answer 15

trade entitlement failure (rice price doubled)
victims from rural areas: fishermen (fish was not worthy enough); agriculture laborers
wartime obligations (urban population was supported to get the production going)

Question 16

Ethiopian famine (1973-1974)

Answer 16

1. natural hazard (drought)
2. food production decrease
3. lack of transportation infrastructure
4. two droughts - Harerge and Wollo (‘wall of famine’)

direct entitlement failure
direct destitution

Question 17

Bangladesh Famine (1973-1974)

Answer 17

1. natural disasters (flooding in the Brahmaputra River)
2. government mismanagement = denial
3. internal instability - post independence in 1971
4. US’s tilt toward Pakistan (Economic crisis; dollar shortage)

Question 18

Sen’s argument Bangladesh Famine

Answer 18

trade entitlement failure (smuggling and hoarding of food aid to india)
peak availability of rice(?)
destitution of rural laborers considerable higher
inflation in rice market and falling prices of internal production

Question 19

influence of Entitlement Approach

Answer 19

focus on access to food (Right to Food Act in India, 2013)
challenged the notion of agricultural growth and food production
democratic and political reforms (connections with neo-liberal forms of development; focus on health and education)

Question 20

critique of Entitlement Approach

Answer 20

lack of empirical factors to understand the context of famine (nomothetic or ideographic?)
democratic institutions are necessary to prevent famine?
is food only available through legal means? (informality - social capital?)

Question 21

Global Hunger Index

Answer 21

india ranks 107/121
china ranks 17/121
ethiopia ranks 104/121