This document discusses famines throughout history from ancient civilizations like Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley to more recent events. It describes how climate change events like the 4.2 kiloyear drought contributed to the decline of these early civilizations by reducing food production. It also examines how conflicts have exacerbated famines by destroying infrastructure and using starvation as a weapon of war. Currently, the Food and Agriculture Organization aims to achieve food security and end hunger for all people, but ongoing issues like poverty, inequality, and conflict continue to challenge this goal.

1. LECTURE 6. HUMANITY &
CATASTROPHIC CHANGE: FAMINES
ANCIENT

2. THE DRAINAGE BASIN OF THE RIVER
NILE

3. THE BLUE NILE: SOURCE OF THE NILE
FLOOD

4. BLUE NILE FALLS,ETHIOPIA: IN FLOOD,
WITH NILE SILT IN SUSPENSION

5. THE FLOODED NILE, DOWNRIVER

6. NILOMETER ON ELEPHANTINE
ISLAND, WHICH WAS THE FIRST
MEASURING STATION ON THE NILE

7. ARITHMETIC OF FOOD PRODUCTION
& CONSUMPTION IN ANCIENT NILE
VALLEY
• NILE VALLEY PROVIDED EGYPT WITH 33,600 SQ. KILOMETRES OF
PRODUCTIVE SOIL FOR A VARIETY OF CROPS.
• VALLEY SUPPORTED ABOUT 600,000 PERMANENT RESIDENTS +
100,000 MIGRATORY NORTH AFRICANS.
• NORMAL DIET OF AVERAGE ADULT 1600 – 1800 CALORIES/DAY.
CHILDREN ABOUT 1000.
• VERY VARIED DIET: LOW FAT/HIGH FIBRE (EMMER WHEAT FOR
BREAD). BARLEY FOR BEER AS WATER SUBSTITUTE. ALSO
ONIONS,DATES, MELONS,FIGS,ALMONDS,PEAS, BEANS,OLIVES,
POMEGRANATES,GRAPES & GARLIC. FISH,RABBITS,DEER,& BIRDS.
• NILE VALLEY WAS A MAJOR FOOD BOWL FOR MEDITERRANEAN
POPULATION CENTRES – PRODUCING ENOUGH SURPLUS GRAIN &
OTHER FOOD TO FEED ANOTHER 2 – 4 MILLION PEOPLE

8. FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION OF QUEEN
NEFERNEFERUATEN NEFERTITI.
1345 BC

9. THE 4.2 KILOYEAR EVENT IN EGYPT
(2200 BC) ENDED EGYPT’S “GOLDEN
AGE”

10. AKKADIAN EMPIRE IN THE FERTILE
CRESCENT (2334 BC – 2154 BC)

11. CONQUEST OF MESOPOTAMIA BY
AKKADIANS
• THE SUMERIAN CIVILISATION WHICH HAD BEEN CREATED IN THE
FERTILE CRESCENT (13 PRINCIPAL CITIES) + OTHER SETTLEMENTS =
800,000 PEOPLE.
• STRONGLY GOVERNED,ARTISANS SKILLED IN CONSTRUCTION,
METALLURGY, OTHER TRADES SUPPORTING FARMERS OF RICH
SOIL, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY BASED ON SUBSTANTIAL WATER
DISCHARGES FROM RAINFALL & MELTING SNOW IN MOUNTAIN
CATCHMENTS (APRIL/MAY).
• BUT FOR 2000 YEARS SINCE IRRIGATION CANALS WERE BUILT SALT
INCURSIONS WERE BUILDING IN THE SOIL, TO THE POINT WHERE
WHEAT PRODUCTION WAS NOT VIABLE.
• THE BIG AGRICULTURAL SURPLUSES, INITIALLY CREATED FOR THE
AKKADIAN CONQUERORS, BASED ON HIGH VALUE WHEAT
EXPORTS, SLOWLY DIMINISHED MAKING THEIR MESOPOTAMIAN
CONQUESTS VULNERABLE.

12. THEN THE 4.2 KILOYEAR EVENT HIT
THE AKKADIAN CONQUERORS (100
YEAR DROUGHT FROM 2200 BC)
“ THE EMPIRE’S FALL, THEY SAY WAS TRIGGERED BY AN
ABRUPT CLIMATE SHIFT. WEISS (TEAM LEADER) AND
HIS TEAM HAVE BROUGHT TOGETHER DATA FROM
EXCAVATIONS OF AKKADIAN SITES IN NORTHERN
MESOPOTAMIA, HISTORICAL RECORDS OF
POPULATION MOVEMENTS & - MOST IMPORTANT – A
NEW ANALYSIS OF SOIL MOISTURE TO TELL A TALE OF
A LAND LEFT HIGH & DRY. AS CROPS WITHERED IN
THE NORTH THE TEAM CONTENDS, THE AKKADIANS
LOST THEIR SOURCE OF WEALTH – THE WHEAT,
BARLEY & SHEEP THAT WERE THE ECONOMIC BASE OF
THE EMPIRE. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF NORTHERN
SETTLERS STREAMED SOUTH….” (SCIENCE.
VOL261/5124. 1993)

13. “REPELLER OF THE AMORITES”180 km
WALL IN CENTRAL MESOPOTAMIA TO
KEEP OUT STARVING NORTHERNERS

14. MESOPOTAMIAN “DARK AGE” AFTER
AKKADIAN DEFEAT BY “GUTIANS”
2150 BC – 2100 BC
• GUTIANS WERE BARBARIAN MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
FROM ZAGROS MTNS.
• GUTIANS WERE NOMADS, DESTROYING FARMS
& RECORD KEEPING IN CITIES.
• FAMINE AGGRAVATED BY DESTRUCTION OF
GRAIN STORES & HIGH GRAIN PRICES.
• AROUND 1894 BC AN AKKADIAN-SPEAKING
TRIBE FROM THE LEVANT ESTABLISHED A
SETTLEMENT CALLED “BABYLON” AND
OCCUPIED SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, &
ESTABLISHED THE GREAT SUMERIAN CULTURE.

15. BABYLONIA 1750 BC

16. FAMINE IMPACTS ON THE INDUS
VALLEY CIVILISATION

17. INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION
• COEXISTED WITH NILE VALLEY & FERTILE CRESCENT
CIVILISATIONS (INCL MIGRATION, TRADE & “IDEAS
TRANSFER”).
• AT ITS PEAK THIS CIVILISATION COMPRISED ABOUT 5
MILLION PEOPLE & OCCUPIED AN AREA OF ABOUT
840,000 SQUARE MILES – LARGER THAN EITHER OF
THE OTHER CIVILISATIONS.
• IRRIGATION BASED ON ABUNDANT WATER WAS THE
BASIS FOR WEALTHY AGRICULTURE FOR EXPORT:
BARLEY, WHEAT & LATER, RICE. ALSO BEEF CATTLE.

18. IMPACT OF THE “ BOND 3 COOLING
EVENT” ON INDUS VALLEY
CIVILISATION

19. THE EURASIAN STEPPES

20. IMPACT OF THE 4.2 KILOYEAR EVENT
ON EURASIAN STEPPES & INDUS
VALLEY CIVILISATION (1)
“ AROUND 2000 BC, THE ORIGINAL INDO-
EUROPEAN – SPEAKING, SEMI-NOMADIC
BARBARIANS, WHO MOST PROBABLY LIVED
IN THE REGION BETWEEN THE CASPIAN &
BLACK SEAS, WERE DRIVEN FROM THEIR
HOMELAND BY SOME NATURAL DISASTER,
POSSIBLY DROUGHT , PROLONGED FROST, OR
A PLAGUE.” ( STANLEY WOLPERT: ‘ A NEW
HISTORY OF INDIA’)

21. 4.2 KILOYEAR IMPACT ON EURASIAN
STEPPES (2)
• THE IMPACT OF THE CLIMATE EVENT KNOWN AS “4.2 KILOYEAR” LED TO
WIDESPREAD ARIDIFICATION, DETRIORATION OF FEEDSTOCK NOMADS’
HERDS, LEADING TO A CASCADE OF DISASTERS INCL. STARVATION &
POSSIBLY ZOONOTIC DISEASES HERD QUALITITY DETERIORATED.
• RAPID MIGRATIONS TOWARDS SOUTH ASIA, AHEAD OF PLAGUES.
• WHEN THE EURASIAN STEPPE NOMADS ARRIVED IN THE INDUS VALLEY,
THEY FOUND IT IN DECLINE, DUE TO DECLINES IN WINTER MONSOON
RAINS & A GENERAL ARIDIFICATION OF THE LAND & THIS WAS WORST IN
THE MARGINAL LANDS BROUGHT UNDER CULTIVATION AS THE INDUS
VALLEY LANDS SPREAD EASTWARDS INTO DRY /DESERT AREAS.
• THE INDUS VALLEY POPULATION MOVED SOUTHWARDS INTO THE SUB-
CONTINENT & CAME TO BE KNOWN AS “DRAVIDIANS” (FROM THE
SANSKRIT, DRAVIDA, MEANING THOSE WHO LIVE IN THE SOUTH OF
INDIA.)
• THE MIGRANTS FROM THE STEPPES MOVED EASTWARD IN THE NORTH
OF INDIA, FOLLOWING THE GANGES & OTHER RIVER SYSTEMS

22. THE FACE OF 21ST C. FAMINE:
“SEVERE ACUTE MALNUTRITION” OF
CHILDREN MOSTLY

23. THE UNITED NATIONS DEFINITION OF
“FAMINE”
1. AT LEAST 20% OF HOUSEHOLDS IN THE
REGION FACE EXTREME FOOD SHORTAGES,
WITH A LIMITED ABILITY TO COPE.
2. ACUTE MALNUTRITION RATES EXCEED 30%,
AND
3. DEATH RATES EXCEED 2 PERSONS PER
10,000 PERSONS.

24. FAMINES BY WORLD REGIONS 1860 -
2016

25. THE FOOD & AGRICULTURAL
ORGANISATION (FAO) OF THE UNITED
NATIONS
• THE FAO HAS BECOME THE WORLD LEADER ON THE
ISSUES OF FOOD PRODUCTION & CONSUMPTION IN
THE WORLD, IN THE PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE.
• IN 2021 THE SIGNIFICANT ISSUE IN THE WORLD’S
FOOD CONSUMPTION PATTERNS IS THE LEVEL OF
HUNGER AMONGST PEOPLE.
• “HUNGER IS THE DISTRESS ASSOCIATED WITH LACK OF
FOOD. THE THRESHHOLD OF FOOD DEPRIVATION OR
UNDERNOURISHMENT , IS FEWER THAN 1800
CALORIES PER DAY.
• FOOD SECURITY RELATES TO FOOD AVAILABILITY,
ACCESS & UTILIZATION.”

26. WORLD HUNGER FACTS 2021
1. “ THERE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOOD PRODUCED TO FEED
EVERYONE ON THE PLANET.
2. ABOUT 690 MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE GO TO BED HUNGRY EACH
NIGHT.
3. SMALL FARMERS, HERDERS, & FISHERMEN PRODUCE ABOUT 70% OF
THE GLOBAL FOOD SUPPLY, YET THEY ARE ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE TO
FOOD INSECURITY – POVERTY & HUNGER ARE MOST ACUTE AMONG
RURAL POPULATIONS.
4. CONFLICT IS A MAJOR DRIVER OF HUNGER: THE UN ESTIMATES THAT
122 MILLION OF 144 MILLION STUNTED CHILDREN LIVE IN COUNTRIES
AFFECTED BY CONFLICT.
5. AN ESTIMATED 14 MILLION CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 5 YEARS
SUFFER FROM SEVERE ACUTE MALNUTRITION, ALSO KNOWN AS
SEVERE WASTING, YET ONLY 25% OF SEVERELY MALNOURISHED
CHILDREN HAVE ACCESS TO LIVESAVING TREATMENT”
(SOURCE: FAO)

27. YEMEN WAR 2019: STARVATION AS A
WEAPON OF WAR

28. AMERICAN CIVIL WAR,1860s:
HUNGER AS A WEAPON OF WAR

29. THE QUESTION TO TAKE AWAY TODAY
&
THINK ABOUT
CAN HUMANITY EVER ACHIEVE
THE FAO GOAL: THE RIGHT TO
ADEQUATE FOOD FOR “ EVERY
MAN,WOMAN & CHILD”