This document discusses the causes and effects of famines throughout history. It notes that the two main underlying causes of famines are misguided or deliberate public policy decisions and repressive political systems. Two examples given are the famines in Ukraine in the early 1930s and China from 1959-1961, which were both caused by harmful governmental policies that reduced food availability. The recent famine in North Korea in the mid-1990s is also examined, where the country's closed borders and economic/environmental problems led to millions of deaths due to lack of humanitarian aid.