LESSONS FROM THE PAST.

FAMINES; NATURAL resources management; POVERTY; SEN, Amartya, 1933-; DAVIS, Mike; KENEALLY, Thomas, 1935-; GREAT Famine, Ireland, 1845-1852

EAST Africa; IRELAND; AFRICA

The article discusses the ongoing famine in East African countries including Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. It comments on inequalities in resource and agricultural land distribution in Africa and analyzes ways in which lessons can be learned from several instances of historical famines including the 19th century Great Hunger in Ireland, the Great Bengal Famine of 1943, and the 1970s famine in Wollo, Ethiopia. Other topics include the potential of food control to be used as a source of governmental power, the prevalence of poverty throughout the continent of Africa, and research by scholars such as Mike Davis, Thomas Keneally, and Amartya Sen.