The articles about the 2011 horn of Africa famine note several different causal factors underlying this famine.  So I'd like you to think about the fact that there are so many causes here.  One task would be to list the causes referred to in the article.  I’m going to do this one for you.  Here is a list I've made, in part on the basis of another article (so you might not find each of these explicitly in the Mother Jones article).  Once you have this list in mind, you may be able to think of others. · Causes · drought,  · leading to reduced food production · Rising food prices · Internal conflict between warring factions · Poverty · Lack of basic infrastructure and governance · Climate change · Other causes, sometimes said to be things the famine is blamed on · US invasion of Somalia in December 1992 · Failure of donor countries to invest properly · Committing < $200 million when $1 billion needed · Al-Shabaab militia expelling WFP and other aid agencies Notice that there is another distinction to be made: within the list, I’ve listed some of them separately as having to do (according to the article) with blame, not just cause.  We can think about that later.             But now here’s what I want you to do for the exercise/discussion post: a. First, say which of these factors you take to be the most “important”, and say why.  (It would be great if you could pick just one and say why that's most important, but one problem here is that there are a number of things that can be meant by 'important'.) [about 100 words], AND b. Second, draw a picture of how you see these different causal factors going together into an overall causal story or picture (which factors cause which other ones, etc.).  [I’m assuming you have some way to create a picture that you can attach to your post (if only by drawing a picture in the real world and taking a picture of it with your phone); but if not, describe this as best you can with words.] Then comment on what insights you can get from having done this. .

1. The articles about the 2011 horn of Africa famine note several
different causal factors underlying this famine. So I'd like you
to think about the fact that there are so many causes here. One
task would be to list the causes referred to in the article. I’m
going to do this one for you. Here is a list I've made, in part on
the basis of another article (so you might not find each of these
explicitly in the Mother Jones article). Once you have this list
in mind, you may be able to think of others.
· Causes
· drought,
· leading to reduced food production
· Rising food prices
· Internal conflict between warring factions
· Poverty
· Lack of basic infrastructure and governance
· Climate change
· Other causes, sometimes said to be things the famine
is blamed on
· US invasion of Somalia in December 1992
· Failure of donor countries to invest properly
· Committing < $200 million when $1 billion needed
· Al-Shabaab militia expelling WFP and other aid agencies
Notice that there is another distinction to be made: within the
list, I’ve listed some of them separately as having to do
(according to the article) with blame, not just cause. We can
think about that later.
But now here’s what I want you to do for the
exercise/discussion post:
a. First, say which of these factors you take to be the most
“important”, and say why. (It would be great if you could pick
just one and say why that's most important, but one problem
here is that there are a number of things that can be meant by
'important'.) [about 100 words], AND
b. Second, draw a picture of how you see these different causal

2. factors going together into an overall causal story or picture
(which factors cause which other ones, etc.). [I’m assuming
you have some way to create a picture that you can attach to
your post (if only by drawing a picture in the real world and
taking a picture of it with your phone); but if not, describe this
as best you can with words.] Then comment on what insights
you can get from having done this.