Predicting the conditions that create famine
Famines were once thought to be fading into history. But after devastating crises in places such as Somalia and Sudan—and with levels of extreme food insecurity rising worldwide—researchers are asking whether a better understanding of famines could lead to improved forecasting and help prevent catastrophic hunger.
Famines once seemed a distant memory. However, recent devastating crises in regions like Somalia and Sudan, coupled with a worldwide increase in extreme food insecurity, have prompted researchers to question whether a deeper understanding of famines could lead to improved forecasting and prevent catastrophic hunger. A recent collection of studies from more than 30 researchers at Tufts University, along with institutions in academia, humanitarian organizations, global development, and data science, suggests that famine is not an abrupt event but a complex system that evolves and may be halted.
Published in the Journal of Public Health Policy, these papers illustrate how various models can offer insights into when famines begin and end, where they occur, how and why they develop, and who is impacted. Elena Naumova, the journal's editor-in-chief and a professor at Tufts University, emphasizes that lessons learned from infectious disease forecasting and the COVID-19 pandemic underscore the value of combining complex data from multiple sources to better understand crises as they unfold.
This article delves into how these approaches might enhance famine prevention and response, featuring insights from Naumova and Paul Howe, the Irwin H. Rosenberg Professor of Nutrition and Human Security.
Written by urgent.news from Medical Xpress's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
