{{Short description|Famine not caused by drought}}'''Green famine''' is the term used for a condition in which a country or area is suffering famine even though the fields are green in the absence of drought—it was described as "suffering amongst the plenty".<ref name="Tekle">{{cite book|last=Tekle|first=Mekete Bekele|editor=Frank Maes|others=An Cliquet, Willemien du Plessis, Heather McLeod-Kilmurray|title=Biodiversity and Climate Change: Linkages at International, National and Local Levels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-dEMAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA96|year=2013|publisher=Edward Elgar|isbn=9781782546894|pages=94–121}}</ref> The famine is caused by such problems as "high food prices, coupled with high birth rates and poor land management",<ref name="Braden">{{cite news|url=http://www.theglobalist.com/ethiopias-green-famine/|title=Ethiopia's Green Famine|last=Braden|first=Susan|date=14 November 2008|work=The Globalist|accessdate=11 December 2015}}</ref> flooding,<ref name="Tekle"/> and sometimes man-made ecological problems such as water shortages and deforestation.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ethiopia-prey-to-a-deceptive-green-famine-711202.html|title=Ethiopia prey to a deceptive 'green famine'|last=Ewing|first=Keith|date=12 August 2000|work=The Independent|accessdate=11 December 2015}}</ref> It is sometimes caused by a poor harvest in the prior year that causes a depletion of food stores during the winter months, thus a lack of food in the spring and summer even when the coming harvest looks "green" and potentially bountiful.
The phenomenon was noted in Sidamo Province, Ethiopia, as early as the 1980s, when bacterial disease and poor rains caused the destruction of much of the ensete crop<ref>{{cite book|last1=Webb|first1=Patrick|last2=Braun|first2=Joachim Von|last3=Yohannes|first3=Yisehac|title=Famine in Ethiopia: Policy Implications of Coping Failure at National and Household Levels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4YujWY3vkccC&pg=PA139|year=1992|publisher=Intl Food Policy Res Inst|isbn=9780896290952|page=139}}</ref> after farmers had to sell their crops rather than eat them in order to pay heavy taxes;<ref name="CurtisHubbard">{{cite book|last1=Curtis|first1=Donald|last2=Hubbard|first2=Michael|last3=Shepherd|first3=Andrew|title=Preventing Famine: Policies and Prospects for Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_aIsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA88|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134986200|pages=88–89}}</ref> in the 1990s, when after a dry spell the sorghum was growing but carried no seed;<ref>{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Lee Allyn|title=Natural Disasters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CRzMOYIuLJEC&pg=PA113|year=2009|publisher=Infobase|isbn=9781438118789|page=113}}</ref> and again in the 2000s,<ref name="Braden"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/48738/|title='Green famine' in Ethiopia: understanding the causes of increasing vulnerability to food insecurity and policy responses in the Southern Ethiopian highlands|publisher=Sussex Research Online|accessdate=11 December 2015}}</ref> when "recent rains [in 2003] created a lush landscape which masks severe hunger".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newfarm.org/international/news/060103/0616/green_famine_print.shtml|title=Drought Stricken Ethiopian Farmers Suffer Green Famine|date=12 June 2003|publisher=The Rodale Institute|accessdate=11 December 2015}}</ref>
In the 1990s North Korea suffered from a period of famine caused by poor weather and inefficient transport. This period became known as the "Arduous March"; political changes in countries which formerly supported the North Korean economy reduced or eliminated sources of external support.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/north-korea-winter_5661a182e4b08e945fef074d|title=North Koreans Brace For Hardship During Winter Ahead|date=4 December 2015|work=The Huffington Post|accessdate=11 December 2015}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
Category:Agriculture in society