famine
A crisis in which large numbers of people in an area cannot obtain enough food to sustain themselves. The situation often leads to excess mortality from either starvation or illness and disease caused by a lack of food. The distinction between the extreme event of famine and chronic hunger or malnourishment can be arbitrary; by some definitions, famines must involve at least 1000 deaths and mortality rates of at least 1/10,000 per day. Even this definition leaves open the question of the relevant spatial and temporal scale. It is not necessarily the case that everyone in an area suffers equally; some social groups, defined, by gender, age, ethnicity, and so forth, may be more vulnerable than others. The geographical analysis of incidence within regions can be also reveal differences, for example, between rural and urban areas. Beyond this, definitions of famine have often proved controversial because of disagreements about cause and whether it is a singular event or a collection of symptoms. In recent years, geographers have focused less on famine specifically and more on ... ...
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