BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Food for Thought: The Use and Abuse of Food Aid in the Fight Against World Hunger by Jonathan Fryer
Against the Grain: The Dilemma of Project Food Aid by Tony Jackson with Deborah Eade
Community Response to Earthquake Threat in Southern California by Ralph H. Turner, Joanne M. Nigg, Denise Heller Paz and Barbara Shaw Young
Chemical Risk by Maurice Frankel, Pluto Press Workers' Handbooks
Acceptable Risk by Baruch Fischhoff, Sarah Lichtenstein Paul Slovic, Stephen L. Derby and Ralph L. Keeney
The Assessment and Perception of Risk , Proc. K. Soc.,     

Continue to blame it on the rain? Conceptualization of drought and failure of food systems in the Greater Horn of Africa

Food insecurity continues to be prevalent in parts of Africa. In December 2015, there were approximately 21.6 million food insecure people in the Horn and East Africa. Climate change is likely to exacerbate current volatility of agricultural production and lead to further food insecurity. Whilst the academic literature has acknowledged the complexity of food insecurity and systems, it is not clear to what extent this has been translated into practice. We argue that there is a tendency to explain complex failures of food systems as ‘droughts’, with insufficient attention paid to other drivers. We analyse humanitarian documents and climate outlook statements in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia and assess how these are reflected in the humanitarian responses to food insecurity in the region by analysing the financing of humanitarian operations. Our findings indicate that the continued evolution in understanding the complex causes of food insecurity and attempts to move away from emergency relief to a more sophisticated approach has not translated into an observable change in humanitarian responses. The reasons behind this persistence of short-term relief, which is being justified with reference to climatic factors, mainly drought, would warrant further research into the decision-making process that triggers humanitarian responses.

List of abbreviations: ACF: Action Contre le Faim; DCM: Drought Cycle Management; DEC: Disaster Emergency Committee; ECHO: European Commission Humanitarian Office; EU: European Union; EWS: Early Warning System; FAO: Food and Agricultural Organization; FEWSNET: Famine Early Warning System Network; FSNAU: Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit; FTS: Financial Tracking Service; GHACOF: Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum; GIEWS: Global Information and Early Warning System; IASC: Inter Agency Standing Committee; ICPAC: IGAD Climate Application and Prediction Centre; IFRC: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; IGAD: Inter-Governmental Authority on Development; IPCC: International Panel for Climate Change; LEWS: Livestock Early Warning System; ODI: Overseas Development Initiative; PASDEP: Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to Eradicate Poverty; PSNP: Productive Safety Net Programme; UNDRO: United Nations Disaster Relief Office; UNISDR: United Nations International; UN OCHA: United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; USAID: United States Agency for International Development; WFP: World Food Programme     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Fighting for Survival: People and the Environment in the Horn of Africa , edited by Robert A. Hutchison
Historic Storms of the North Sea, British Isles and Northwest Europe , by Hubert Lamb
Food Scarcity and Famine: Assessment and Response , by Helen Young     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Subject to Famine: Food Crises and Economic Change in Western India, 1860–1920
Why They Did Not Starve: Biocnltural Adaptation in a South Indian Village
Ethiopia: The Challenge of Hunger
The Economics of Bushfires: The South Australian Experience
Victims of the Environment: Loss from Natural Hazards in the United States 1970–1980
Medical Laboratory Manual for Tropical Countries     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
John Twigg and Mihir R. Bhatt, eds, Understanding Vulnerability
Joachim von Braun, Tesfaye Teklu and Patrick Webb, Famine in Africa: Causes, Responses, and Prevention
C. Emdad Haque, Hazrads in a Fickle Environment: Bangladesh
Walter Gillis Peacock, Betty Hearn Morrow and Hugh Gladwin, eds, Population and Food: Global Trends and Future Prospects
Roy Gutman and David Rieff, eds, Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Coping with Vulnerability and Criticality , edited by H.G. Bohle, T.E. Downing, J.O. Field and F.N. Ibrahim.
Making Ends Meet: A Survey of the Food Economy of the North-East Highlands , Save the Children (UK)     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Coping with Uncertainty in Food Supply , edited by I. de Garine and G.A. Harrison.
Disabled Persons & Earthquake Hazards , by Kathleen J. Tierney, William J. Petak and Harlan Hahn.
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of the Geological Sciences     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Tim Dyson, Population and Food: Global Trends and Future Prospects
R. S. J. Sparks, M. I. Bursik, S. N. Carey, J. S. Gilbert, L. S. Glaze, H. Sigurdsson and A. W. Woods, Volcanic Plumes
Jasper Becker, Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine
Dali L. Yang, Calamity and Reform in China: State, Rural Society and Institutional Change Since the Great Leap Forward     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
World Disasters Report, 1994, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Disaster Evacuation and the Tourist Industry, by Thomas E. Drabek.
Agents of Apocalypse: Epidemic Diseases in the Colonial Philippines, by Ken de Bevoise.
Patterns of China's Lost Harmony: A Survey of the Country's Environmental Degradation and Protection by Richard Louis Edmonds.
Women and Conflict, edited by Helen O'Connell.
Famine and Food Security in Ethiopia: Lessons for Africa by Patrick Webb and Joachim von Braun.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: John Twigg and Mihir R. Bhatt, eds, Understanding Vulnerability Joachim von Braun, Tesfaye Teklu and Patrick Webb, Famine in Africa: Causes, Responses, and Prevention C. Emdad Haque, Hazrads in a Fickle Environment: Bangladesh Walter Gillis Peacock, Betty Hearn Morrow and Hugh Gladwin, eds, Population and Food: Global Trends and Future Prospects Roy Gutman and David Rieff, eds, Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Slope Instability Edited by Denys Brunsden and David B. Prior
Disaster Preparedness Update - A Computerized Index of an Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Bibliography of Interest for Latin America and the Caribbean
The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries by Piers Blakie
Department of Geology and Geography University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, U.S.A.
The State of Food Emergency Preparedness in Ethiopia by Peter Cutler and Robin Stephenson     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Hunger and History: The Impact of Changing Food Production and Consumption Patterns on Society, Edited by Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb. Medical Consequences of Natural Disasters by Lazar Benin
Imposing Aid: Emergency Assistance to Refugees by B.E. Harrell-Bond
Too Many, Too Long: Sudan's Twenty-year Refugee Dilemma by John R. Rogge. Rowman and Allanheld
Disaster Preparedness and the 1984 Earthquakes in Central Italy by David Alexander
Famine as a Geographical Phenomenon, Edited by Bruce Currey and Graeme Hugo. Published by D. Reidel, Dordrecht/Boston/Lancaster, 1984
Violent Forces of Nature Edited by R.H. Maybury     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Natural Hazards , by E.A. Bryant.
Chernobyl: Insight from the Inside , by V.M. Chernousenko
Communicating Risks to the Public: International Perspectives , edited by R.E. Kasperson and P.J.M. Stallen
From Feast to Famine: Official Cures and Grassroots Remedies to Africa's Food Crisis , by Bill Rau.
The Political Economy of African Famine , edited by R.E. Downs, Donna O. Kemer and Stephen P. Reyna, Gordon and Breach
Famine and Drought Mitigation in Ethiopia in the 1990s , edited by Patrick Webb, Tesfaye Zegeye and Rajul Pandya-Lorch.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Famine and Food Security in Africa and Asia: Indigenous Response and External Intervention to Avoid Hunger, edited by Hans G. Bohle, Terry Cannon, Graeme Hugo and Fouad N. Ibrahim. When the Grass is Gone: Development Interventions in African Arid Lands, edited by P.T.W. Baxter. Survival Strategies and External Interventions in a Semi-arid Region at the Kenya/Uganda Border: Western Pokot, 1900–86, by Ton Dietz. Global Warming: Who is Taking the Heat?, by G. Foley     

Food Security Reserve Policy in Ethiopia: A Case Study of Experience and Implications

Food security reserve policy in Ethiopia since 1982 is reviewed in the light of the limited progress made elsewhere in Africa in establishing and maintaining such reserves. While the reserve played some role in dealing with the crisis of 1987/8, donor confidence was eroded by unauthorised drawings from the reserve and other factors. In 1992, the Ethiopian Food Security Reserve Authority was established to provide a system of management more acceptable to donors. This had led to donor pledges to replenish the reserve, though it remains well below the target level. Despite increased government commitment of funds, donor confidence remains fragile and the reserve remains dependent on donor support. The place of the reserve in national food security policy is not yet fully defined. Conclusions are drawn for food security reserve policy in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa.     

Global factors shaping the future of food aid: the implications for WFP

Food aid is a key component of a humanitarian response but its use in other programming contexts is subject to numerous criticisms. Even in humanitarian emergencies food aid is often late, unreliable and out of proportion to other elements of the response. Three major factors will shape the future of food aid. First, mechanisms of food aid governance are being reviewed and may undergo major changes—particularly the Food Aid Convention now that hopes have diminished for an Agreement on Agriculture at the World Trade Organisation. The second significant factor is donor agency trends. Overall levels of food aid have dropped fairly steadily in recent decades and there are several discernible trends in resource allocation, procurement and the use of food aid. The third factor is an emerging body of best practice that will define acceptable standards of food aid programming in the future.     

From food aid to livelihoods support: rethinking the role of WFP in eastern Sudan

Despite more than 20 years of distribution of free emergency food in eastern Sudan (38 years in the case of refugees) Global Acute Malnutrition rates are currently the highest in the country. There has been no real improvement in the chronic livelihoods vulnerability that affects people in the region—particularly pastoralists. Food security must be seen from an informed livelihoods perspective. While food aid may still be required as part of transition, WFP must rethink its assistance strategy and advocate for complementarity in the efforts by development actors working across a range of sectors. Alternative models and interventions focused on the rehabilitation of markets and the development of' cargo nets' for the destitute, including cash transfers, must be developed and tested. Land tenure issues should be given particular attention. Food aid will probably remain an important element in the overall response, but its significance relative to other less developed forms of interventions should be reassessed.     

Participation,political economy and protection: food aid governance in Darfur,Sudan

Humanitarian food assistance aims to meet short‐term emergency needs, yet often it is sustained over many years and develops its own systems and infrastructure that interact with local governance and local communities. This paper explores the links between participation and local governance, as well as the implications for exclusion of certain groups, the dignity of those involved, and protection issues. The paper proposes a framework for reviewing the governance functions and capacities of local Food Relief Committees, based on the following criteria: accountability; gender equity; legitimacy and authority; representativeness; responsiveness; and transparency. A case study of the Darfur region reviews how local governance evolves as a result of both the wider conflict and of adapting to the international humanitarian system, itself a form of governance. The paper concludes by proposing three strategies for enhancing participation and applying lessons learned: improved analysis of participation; linking programming strategies and protection; and taking account of governance functions and capacities.     

Looking beyond food aid to livelihoods, protection and partnerships: strategies for WFP in the Darfur states

The humanitarian crisis in Darfur remains extremely serious. The optimism that followed the signing of the Abuja Peace Accord was followed by a rapid deterioration in security on the ground in part associated with increasing factionalism in various rebel movements. This paper briefly reviews the evolution of the crisis, its impact on lives and livelihoods and the response by the World Food Programme (WFP) to June 2006. The major challenges and issues facing the food aid programme in the previous 18 months included: dealing with insecurity while maintaining or even extending programme outreach; the need to link protection with assistance more explicitly; and determining the wider impact of food aid programming on the processes and institutions linked with the conflict. The paper discusses the main strategic issues facing WFP in the future such as: integrating security and protection with needs assessments and operational decisions, broadening response strategies beyond food aid and bringing livelihoods to the fore, the need to review cost-efficiency, promoting partnerships and strengthening national and regional capacities.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Rwanda: Which Way Now? , by David Waller
Humanitarian Aid to Somalia , by the Operations Review Unit, Netherlands Development Corporation, The Hague
The State of the World's Refugees 1995. In Search of Solutions , by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Mercy Under Fire: War and the Global Humanitarian Community , by Larry Minear and Thomas G. Weiss
The Politics of Humanitarian Intervention , edited by John Harriss
'The Conscience of the World', The Influence of Non-Governmental Organisations in the UN System , edited by P. Willetts
Nutrition Matters: People, Food and Famine , by Helen Young and Susanne Jaspars
Nutrition Guidelines , by Médecins Sans Frontieres
Who Will Feed China: Wake-up Call for a Small Planet , by Lester Brown
Urban Disaster Mitigation: The Role of Engineering and Technology , edited by F.Y. Cheng and M.-S. Sheu
Learning from Failure – The System Approach , by Joyce Fortune and Geoff Peters, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester
Landslides Hazard Mitigation with Particular Reference to Developing Countries: Proceedings of a Conference Held at the Royal Society, November 1993 , The Royal Academy of Engineering
Crisis and Opportunity. Environment and Development in Africa , by François Falloux and Lee M. Talbot
Megacities: Reducing Vulnerability to Natural Disasters , by the Institution of Civil Engineers