Famine that Kills: Darfur, Sudan(Oxford Studies in African Affairs)

When news of the Darfur famine in the '80s broke in the West, relief experts predicted that, without massive food aid, millions of people would starve to death. Food aid on this scale did not arrive, but millions did not starve to death. Analyzing the famine from the perspective of the rural people in the region who suffered it, Alex de Waal uncovers a number of new and important insights into the dynamics of famine and famine relief. The author argues that deaths during the famine were not due to starvation, but instead were caused by disease, which ensued in the aftermath of the social disruption caused by the famine. In addition, the priority for rural people during the crisis was not to try to save every possible life, but to preserve their way of life for the future. Consequently, he concludes, the huge international relief effort was largely irrelevant to their survival. De Waal's findings have profound implications, not just for famine relief, but for our very conception of 'famine' itself. Already a classic in the field, this revised edition Famine that Kills provides critical background and lessons of past intervention for a region that finds itself in another moment of humanitarian crisis.

About the Author :
Alex de Waal is a Director of Justice Africa in London and a fellow of the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard University. He is the author of several books on famine, human rights, and conflict in Africa, and has been at the forefront of mobilizing African and international responses to these problems.

Review :
"...an interesting new preface in which he comments on events in the region since the early 1980s...a useful case study of the dynamics of famine."--Foreign Affairs Praise for the Previous Edition: "[A] classic study."--Andrew Natsios, Administrator, USAID "A book of decisive practical and intellectual significance."--Craig Calhoun, President, Social Sciences Research Council "This book and Sen's Poverty and Famines are the two most important books ever written on famine."--Sue Lautze, Director, Livelihoods Initiatives Program, Feinstein International Famine Center, Tufts University "A key text in understanding famine and never more relevant than today. It put people's coping strategies on the map, as well as the importance of disease-led mortality."--Dr David Keen, Reader in Complex Emergencies, London School of Economics "The best book ever written about the region."--John Prendergast, International Crisis Group "...an interesting new preface in which he comments on events in the region since the early 1980s...a useful case study of the dynamics of famine."--Foreign Affairs