Since times immemorial there have been numerous famines in the world. Droughts, floods, and crop failures have claimed millions of lives, often the consequence of wars, injudicious policies, repressive measures, but frequently described as inevitable or attributed to supernatural causes.
The earliest famines recorded in history occurred during the first dynasties of ancient Egypt, as far back as 3500 BC during the reign of Pharaoh Djoser (c. 27th century BC). Records from 2180 BC indicate that a seven-year famine damaged the Old Kingdom because prosperity or starvation depended on the annual flooding of the Nile. Famines are mentioned in Genesis, Exodus, the story of Ruth (“there was a famine in the land”), and many others. The Greeks experienced several severe famines. During its existence the Roman Empire endured several shortages or famines that eventually contributed to its decline and fall.
In the Middle Ages, Europe experienced many famines, reaching its most devastating point in the Great Famine from 1315–1317. Heavy rainfall across Northern Europe destroyed crops which led to massive starvation and the death of 10–20% of regional inhabitants followed by the even more deadly Black Death, which struck in the following decades.
In the Irish Potato Famine (1845–1849) of more recent times, one million Irish people died and another one million migrated from the country. The British colonial administration worsened the crisis by continuing food exports from Ireland while providing insufficient relief assistance. This famine brought permanent changes to Ireland’s population, its cultural traditions and political institutions.
Throughout its extensive history, China experienced famines regularly at the rate of one a year in one province or another. The latest, the Great Chinese Famine between 1958–1961 resulted in an estimated 30 to 55 million deaths and is considered to have been the largest famine in human history. It was due to a combination of political and social factors, particularly the “Great Leap Forward” policy implemented under Mao Zedong’s leadership, resulting from bad agricultural approaches combined with bad weather challenges. Local officials worsened the situation by avoiding to report the true extent of food scarcity to their superiors because they feared punishment.
Famines in India during British colonial rule also illustrate how misguided policies may worsen natural disasters. The Great Bengal Famine of 1770, which killed some ten million people—roughly one-third of Bengal’s population—was caused not only by drought but by a combination of excessive revenue demands, grain hoarding, and the monopolistic policies of the East India Company. The 1943 Bengal Famine of World War II was also due in part to human decisions—including wartime rice exportation, poor distribution, and delayed relief efforts—turning a food shortage into a humanitarian catastrophe, resulting in up to three million deaths while food supplies were present in other parts of India.
Throughout Russian history, famines, droughts, and crop failures occurred on a regular basis. From the beginning of the 11th to the end of the 16th century there were eight crop failures every 13 years. During the Soviet Union, the collectivization policy of 1931–1933 caused massive famines in Russia, Ukraine, and Central Asia.
Modern famines in Ethiopia from 1983–1985, North Korea from 1994–1998, and Somalia from 2011–2012 show how wars, governance breakdowns, and isolationist policies can lead to mass starvation in regions with normal food abundance.
Famine represents an intricate emergency that surpasses basic food scarcity issues, being due not to an insufficient food supply but rather to the breakdown of food distribution networks and people’s inability to reach available resources. The most vulnerable groups suffer most during these events. Preventing famines requires sustainable agriculture policies alongside strong distribution networks and capable governance to protect everybody.