• Login
    View Item 
    •   OpenDocs Home
    • Institute of Development Studies Research Repository
    • IDS Research
    • View Item
    •   OpenDocs Home
    • Institute of Development Studies Research Repository
    • IDS Research
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Famine in the Sudan: Causes, Preparedness and Response. A Political, Social and Economic Analysis of the 1998 Bahr el Ghazal Famine

    Thumbnail
    Download
    Main Report (812.3Kb)
    Date
    1999-01-25
    Author
    Biong Deng, Luka
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Impact
    Abstract
    This paper analyses the causes of the Bahr el Ghazal famine in 1998 as a chain of political, environmental, economical and social factors, as well as a failure of public action and early warning systems. The famine emerged from a long history of exploitation and repression by successive governments in the Sudan that aimed at destroying the lives of the civil population in Bahr el Ghazal region. This process resulted in the considerable erosion of assets endowment of the civil population, and led them to become increasing vulnerable to exogenous shocks such as El-Nino. The intensification of fighting between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan (GOS) during the critical months of cultivation in 1997 exacerbated further the level of vulnerability. The sorghum prices in the epicentre of the famine doubled and even quadrupled in some areas and 'price ripple' phenomenon was observed as markets failed to come to the famine victims. The paper also analyses the role of institutions such as the SPLM, the UN and NGOs, and social structures, in the management of famine in 1998. The paper clearly shows that the poor management of the famine in 1998 was largely related to the poor quality of information generated by monitoring and early warning systems that resulted in divided opinion among the charity agencies about the severity of the humanitarian crisis. It was left to the western media to reveal the presence of the famine and trigger, though late, a massive international relief response.
    URI
    https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/13867
    Citation
    Biong Deng, L. (1999) Famine in the Sudan: Causes, Preparedness and Response. A Political, Social and Economic Analysis of the 1998 Bahr el Ghazal Famine, IDS Discussion Paper 369, Brighton: IDS
    Is part of series
    IDS Discussion Paper;369
    Rights holder
    Institute of Development Studies
    Rights details
    http://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/IDSOpenDocsStandardTermsOfUse.pdf
    Collections
    • IDS Research [1365]

    About OpenDocs | OpenDocs Policy | Help | Contact Us | Send Feedback | Disclaimer and Cookies
     

     

    Browse

    All of OpenDocsCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    About OpenDocs | OpenDocs Policy | Help | Contact Us | Send Feedback | Disclaimer and Cookies