If you look up the word “famine” in your dictionary, you will find it defined as ‘extreme hunger,’ or ‘starvation.’ That seems to describe what people are experiencing in East Africa, and it is a word some recent news reports have used.
But if you ask some scientists working on food security issues, you will find them steering clear of the word.
“There’s been an enormous shift away from using ‘famine’ as a label,” said NASA’s Molly Brown, who works as part of the U.S. government’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or FEWSNET.
FEWSNET forecasts food shortages in different parts of the world.
Brown said that in decades past, governments and aid organizations often used the word famine to describe food emergencies, but they are less likely to do so today. In fact, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network has never declared a famine since its launch in the mid-1980s. | PRI's The World (Click here to LISTEN TO THIS REPORT TODAY!!!)
Also listen to NPR's report below:
But if you ask some scientists working on food security issues, you will find them steering clear of the word.
“There’s been an enormous shift away from using ‘famine’ as a label,” said NASA’s Molly Brown, who works as part of the U.S. government’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or FEWSNET.
FEWSNET forecasts food shortages in different parts of the world.
Brown said that in decades past, governments and aid organizations often used the word famine to describe food emergencies, but they are less likely to do so today. In fact, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network has never declared a famine since its launch in the mid-1980s. | PRI's The World (Click here to LISTEN TO THIS REPORT TODAY!!!)
Also listen to NPR's report below:
