Nearly half of Sub-Saharan Africa's 45 independent countries encounter frequent serious food crises. Ethiopia, one of the world's larger countries, has long been plagued with the torment of poverty, illiteracy, hunger and disease. Famine, a reduction in everyday food supply, is a widespread problem that can strike in any corner of the developing world. Although sometimes unnoticed, this shortage of food slowly leads to hunger and malnutrition. Famine in Ethiopia is not caused by natural disasters, but instead is a direct result of social, political, and economic human forces. "Not only are individuals and families dying from starvation there but whole communities are forced to endure abnormal social and economic activities in order to ensure food" (5). Due to their lack of development planning in combating these hardships. "Ethiopia is characterized as one of the world's least developed nations" (4.65). This case study summarizes the existence of famine in Ethiopia as it related to its causes, both natural and political, resettlement and relief efforts, and the issues involved in famine in the future.
             Existence of Famine - When did it begin?
             People die, governments fail, economies break down, poverty widens and futures become dark. Famine, war, and destruction appear to have always been an integral piece of human history, at last since the beginning of substantial human population growth. Its existence in Ethiopia has led to "millions of death, especially in women and children under the age of 5". (3.50) Although many famines have been recorded in human history. Most have occurred in areas of underlying civil conflict. "The famine in the early 1980's was first discovered in the West in 1984, four weeks after the celebrations for the tenth anniversary of the rule of the military committee in Ethiopia". (5) Political in the West had been in dismay when the Dergue announced the formation of the Workers Party of Ethiopia. As a r...