Famine in Somalia: competing imperatives, collective failures, 2011-12

Some 250,000 people died in the southern Somalia famine of 2011-12, which also displaced and destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands more. Yet this crisis had been predicted in 2010. The harshest drought in Somalia's recent history coincided with a global spike in food prices, hitting this arid, import-dependent country hard. The policies of Al-Shabaab, a militant Islamist group that controlled southern Somalia, exacerbated an already difficult situation, barring most humanitarian assistance, while the donors' counter-terrorism policies criminalized any aid falling into their hands. A major disaster resulted from production and market failures precipitated by the drought and food price crisis, while the famine itself resulted from failure to respond quickly to these events-and was thus largely human-made. This book analyzes the famine

Introduction -- The problem of famines -- Somalia and external intervention in the Greater Horn of Africa: 1970-2010 -- The worsening crisis, the delay, and the impact of the famine -- "No one to cry to" : a Somali narrative of the famine -- Diversification, flexibility, and social connectedness: understanding the narratives -- The response of the (Western) international "humanitarian community" -- The shifting international dynamics of the humanitarian response -- 2012-14 and the aftermath of famine -- Preventing famine: an unfinished agenda?