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Famine Intensity and Magnitude Scales: A Proposal for an Instrumental Definition of Famine
Author(s) -
Howe Paul,
Devereux Stephen
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/j.0361-3666.2004.00263.x
Subject(s) - famine , magnitude (astronomy) , accountability , term (time) , intensity (physics) , point (geometry) , tipping point (physics) , development economics , economics , political science , mathematics , law , engineering , physics , geometry , electrical engineering , quantum mechanics , astronomy
Ambiguities in current usage of the term ‘famine’ have had tragic implications for response and accountability in a number of recent food crises. This paper proposes a new approach to defining famine based on the use of intensity and magnitude scales, where ‘intensity’ refers to the severity of the crisis at a given location and point in time, while ‘magnitude’ describes the aggregate impact of a crisis. The scales perform three operations on ‘famine’: first, moving from a binary conception of ‘famine/no famine’ to a graduated, multi‐level definition; second, disaggregating the dimensions of intensity and magnitude; and third, assigning harmonised ‘objective’ criteria in place of subjective, case‐by‐case judgements. If adopted, the famine scales should contribute to more effective and proportionate responses, as well as greater accountability in future food crises.