Famine debate, conceptual framework, and study approach; Record of drought and household-level consequences in western Sudan; Drought-production relationships; Prices and market disconnections during famines; Implications of drought and famine for consumption and nutrition; Past policies and programs for coping with drought and famine; Policy conclusions.

Why the Attack Failed

The book outlines four problem areas exemplified in the response to each crisis: the external nature of famine relief, the relationship between relief activities and endemic problems, the coordination of such activities, and the ambivalence of the results. The authors identify the many difficulties inherent in providing emergency relief to populations caught in circumstances of life-threatening famine. They show how such famine emergencies reflect the most extreme breakdown of social order and present the most compelling imperatives for international action. Deng and Minear also discuss how the international community, alerted by the media and mobilized by the Ethiopian famine, moved in to fill the moral void left by the government and how outside organizations worked together to pressure Sudan's political authorities to be more responsive to these tragedies. Looking ahead, the authors highlight the implications for future involvement in humanitarian initiatives in a new world order.

The report assesses the occurrence and impacts of drought, the current policies underlying drought management as well as the mitigation measures and responses adopted in the Near East and North Africa region, with a focus on the Agriculture Sector. It is the third of a series of similar studies carried out in different regions and countries of the world, with the objective of shedding light on drought effects, sensitizing policy-makers for the much needed paradigm shift to pro-active drought management planning and providing guidance for the development of such policies. The studies are carried out by FAO, in collaboration with the Water for Food Institute, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, as a direct contribution to FAO's Strategic Objective "increasing the resilience of livelihoods to disasters" and Strategic Objective "make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable".

After a decade of uneasy peace, the historic conflict between the North and South Sudanese erupted into violent conflict in 1983 This ferocious civil war, witti its Arab militias and widespread use of automatic weapons, has devastated the populace. In additon to the miseries of war, drought and famine took a further toll on an already battered societyalthough this regional calamity remains largely unknown to the outside world, over 1,000,000 people have either perished or been displaced. Furthermore, the Sudanese government seemed little inclined to help its own people Requiem for the Sudan provides a chilling account of the ravages of drought and civil war, graphically recounting how attempts by international agencies and humanitarian organizations to provide food and medical reliefhave been thwarted by bureaucratic infighting, corruption, greed, and ineptitude. Based on a wealth of previously unpublished documents, Requiem for the Sudan clearly illustrates how the failure of conflict resolution, organizational mismanagement, and a government hostile toward its own people had tragic human consequences.

In 2003, Darfur started to attract the attention of the international community following the outbreak of the conflict. Since then, much is being written on what is happening on the ground, much less about the root causes of the conflict, and that is the reason why it has been looked at from a political perspective rather than from a scientific one. It has been described by many as genocide, resembling the tragedy of the 21st century. A tragedy of climate change explains how the adverse of climate change has affected Darfur since the 1970s, and how the affect has intensified since the 1980s when the region witnessed a severe drought and famine. These symptoms include the expanding desertification, the decreased rainfall and the land degradation left dire consequences. As a result, more Darfurians are competing for access to land, water, and other natural resources than at any other time. The increased competition only further aggravates the already uneasy political, social, and ethnic relationships in the Darfur region. This book seeks to critically analyze the role of climate change in intrastate conflicts in less developed countries, and links between climate change and the untraditional concept of security threats.