Famine that Kills Darfur, Sudan, 1984-1985

by Waal, Alexander de

• ISBN13: 9780198277491
• ISBN10: 0198277490
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1989-12-07
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Famine that Kills is a unique study based on detailed field research carried out during the terrible famine of 1984-85 in the Darfur region of Sudan. De Waal adopts the original approach of analyzing the famine from the perspective of the rural people who suffered through it and in the process uncovers a number of new and important insights. When news of the famine broke, it was predicted that without massive food aid, millions of people would starve. The aid did not arrive, yet millions continued to survive. De Waal argues that death was caused primarily by disease brought about by social disruption. In addition, the priority for rural people during the crisis was not to try to save every life, but instead to preserve their way of life for the future. Consequently, he concludes, the huge international famine relief effort was largely irrelevant to their survival. Recounting the untold story of the Sudanese famine--how rural Sudanese were able to survive on their own resources, using skill, local knowledge, and great tenacity--de Waal's multidisciplinary study will have profound implications, not just for famine relief policies, but for our very conception of "famine" itself.