| Archetypes of famine and response. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 19624703 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Famines have long been characterised by rapidly shifting dynamics: sudden price spirals, sharp increases in mortality, the media frenzy that often accompanies such spikes, the swift scaling up of aid flows, and a subsequent decline in interest. In arguing that these aspects of famine have been largely ignored in recent years due to attention to the famine process', this paper attempts to make these dynamics more explicit by applying systems thinking. It uses standard archetypes of systems thinking to explain six situations--watch, price spiral, aid magnet, media frenzy, overshoot, and peaks--that are present in many famine contexts. It illustrates their application with examples from crises in Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, and Sudan. The paper contends that the systems approach offers a tool for analysing the larger patterns in famines and for pinpointing the most appropriate responses to them, based on an awareness of the dynamics of the crises. |
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Authors:
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Paul Howe |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Disasters Volume: 34 ISSN: 1467-7717 ISO Abbreviation: Disasters Publication Date: 2010 Jan |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2009-12-16 Completed Date: 2010-03-15 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 7702072 Medline TA: Disasters Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 30-54 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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United Nations World Food Programme, Uganda Country Office, Kampala, Uganda. Paul.Howe@wfp.org |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Adolescent Africa / epidemiology Child Child, Preschool Humans Infant Mass Media Relief Work / organization & administration* Starvation* / mortality |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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