How Does Famine Affect Society

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Essay II Famine and Human Agency Dylan Dempsey 15499018 Human agency is referred to as the individual’s ability to making choices of their own free will. Famine is referred to as extreme and general scarcity of food, as in a country or a large geographical area. Human agency can be affected by a famine in many different ways. Famine can be highly detrimental to human health and cause a lot of sickness throughout humans. It is clear that there are many biological effects caused by famine but there are also many effects on society and human agency. Famine can cause a breakdown in society and create barriers to economic growth. This can lead to dramatic changes in religions, cultural practices and the structure of government. In a typical healthy adult, reductions in food intake is quite rare. Reducing the caloric intake of a typical adult inhibits our ability to fight diseases. Children who experience high decreases in their caloric intake can often be permanently damaged both physically and mentally, even after significant nutrition is restored. Due to…show more content…
The Great Chinese Famine was a low period of agricultural production, there were high shortages on food and people starving all over China, from 1959 to 1961. The Chinese government claims that the famine was caused by natural disasters such as floods, draughts, typhoons and pests. It is clear that these played their part in contributing, however human error had a huge impact on how bad the famine actually was. By late 1959 food shortages of critical and signs of famine were visible all over China. The peasants tried to survive by trying to find other sources of food and even resorting to acts of cannibalism. The CCP government covered up information and statistics about the famine so the total death toll has never been accurately calculated. It is said that around 30 million people died, although some historians have said as many as 45 million

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