Why do famines still occur in the 21st Century? A review on the causes of extreme food insecurity

Why do famines persist in the 21st century, despite significant advances in agricultural productivity? Throughout human history, famines have been - and continue to be - among the harshest manifestations of destitution. They result from the exacerbation of human vulnerabilities caused by the synergi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Tezanos Vázquez, Sergio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
Repositorio:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/36962
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10902/36962
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Famine
Hunger
Starvation
Poverty
Food insecurity
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spelling Why do famines still occur in the 21st Century? A review on the causes of extreme food insecurityTezanos Vázquez, SergioFamineHungerStarvationPovertyFood insecurityWhy do famines persist in the 21st century, despite significant advances in agricultural productivity? Throughout human history, famines have been - and continue to be - among the harshest manifestations of destitution. They result from the exacerbation of human vulnerabilities caused by the synergistic interaction of multiple anthropogenic and natural determinants. Famines are humanitarian emergencies that sharply increase mortality and/or morbidity among destitute families. This article reviews the academic debate on the causes of famines. The literature is organized into six main "families" of theories: (i) classical economic explanations (Smith's and Malthus' theses); (ii) food availability decline approach; (iii) entitlement approach; (iv) political perspectives (political regime and political accountability approaches); (v) new variant famine hypothesis; and (vi) systemic explanations. The article identifies the main gaps and limitations in this literature and highlights relevant development policy implications for reducing extreme food insecurity. The conclusion drawn is that the persistence of famines is attributableto ongoing mismanagement of significant triggers of extreme human vulnerability, both at the national and international levels. Extreme poverty, violent conflicts, economic shocks, climate change, governmental negligence, famine crimes, and pandemics contribute to the complexity of famine and require a comprehensive development strategy.Fundación BBVAWiley-BlackwellUniversidad de Cantabria20252025-08-01journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501NAhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_be7fb7dd8ff6fe43info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttps://hdl.handle.net/10902/36962Journal of Economic Surveys, 2025, 29, 1433-1461reponame:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabriainstname:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/369622026-06-02T12:39:31Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Why do famines still occur in the 21st Century? A review on the causes of extreme food insecurity
title Why do famines still occur in the 21st Century? A review on the causes of extreme food insecurity
spellingShingle Why do famines still occur in the 21st Century? A review on the causes of extreme food insecurity
Tezanos Vázquez, Sergio
Famine
Hunger
Starvation
Poverty
Food insecurity
title_short Why do famines still occur in the 21st Century? A review on the causes of extreme food insecurity
title_full Why do famines still occur in the 21st Century? A review on the causes of extreme food insecurity
title_fullStr Why do famines still occur in the 21st Century? A review on the causes of extreme food insecurity
title_full_unstemmed Why do famines still occur in the 21st Century? A review on the causes of extreme food insecurity
title_sort Why do famines still occur in the 21st Century? A review on the causes of extreme food insecurity
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Tezanos Vázquez, Sergio
author Tezanos Vázquez, Sergio
author_facet Tezanos Vázquez, Sergio
author_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidad de Cantabria
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Famine
Hunger
Starvation
Poverty
Food insecurity
topic Famine
Hunger
Starvation
Poverty
Food insecurity
description Why do famines persist in the 21st century, despite significant advances in agricultural productivity? Throughout human history, famines have been - and continue to be - among the harshest manifestations of destitution. They result from the exacerbation of human vulnerabilities caused by the synergistic interaction of multiple anthropogenic and natural determinants. Famines are humanitarian emergencies that sharply increase mortality and/or morbidity among destitute families. This article reviews the academic debate on the causes of famines. The literature is organized into six main "families" of theories: (i) classical economic explanations (Smith's and Malthus' theses); (ii) food availability decline approach; (iii) entitlement approach; (iv) political perspectives (political regime and political accountability approaches); (v) new variant famine hypothesis; and (vi) systemic explanations. The article identifies the main gaps and limitations in this literature and highlights relevant development policy implications for reducing extreme food insecurity. The conclusion drawn is that the persistence of famines is attributableto ongoing mismanagement of significant triggers of extreme human vulnerability, both at the national and international levels. Extreme poverty, violent conflicts, economic shocks, climate change, governmental negligence, famine crimes, and pandemics contribute to the complexity of famine and require a comprehensive development strategy.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025-08-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
NA
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_be7fb7dd8ff6fe43
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/10902/36962
url https://hdl.handle.net/10902/36962
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley-Blackwell
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley-Blackwell
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Journal of Economic Surveys, 2025, 29, 1433-1461
reponame:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
instname:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
instname_str Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
reponame_str UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
collection UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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