Book launch: Famine in Somalia, 26th Apr 2016, 6:00pm to 7:30pm

Context

Some 250,000 people died in the southern Somalia famine of 2011-12, which also displaced and destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands more. Yet this crisis had been predicted nearly a year earlier. The harshest drought in Somalia’s recent history coincided with a global spike in food prices, hitting this arid, import-dependent country hard. The policies of Al-Shabaab, a militant Islamist group that controlled southern Somalia, exacerbated an already difficult situation, barring most humanitarian assistance, while the donor’s counter-terrorism policies criminalized any aid falling into their hands. A major disaster resulted from the production and market failures precipitated by the drought and food price crisis, while the famine itself was the result of the failure to quickly respond to these events — and was thus largely human-made.

Book description

This book analyses the famine: the trade-offs between competing policy priorities that led to it, the collective failure in response, and how those affected by it attempted to protect themselves and their livelihoods. It also examines the humanitarian response, including actors that had not previously been particularly visible in Somalia — from Turkey, the Middle East, and Islamic charities worldwide.

Event details

The program will include a brief presentation of the book and some of its key themes. Then a panel of distinguished colleagues will discuss the book, the famine it portrays, and the broader implications for humanitarian action and policy.

Authors:         Daniel Maxwell and Nisar Majid

Panelists:      Dr. Laura Hammond (SOAS) and Dr. Sara Pantuliano (ODI)

Directions to Strand Campus building: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/campuslife/campuses/directions/strand.aspx
For maps: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/campuslife/campuses/strand/Strand.aspx
Please note the Strand Campus building is the one in red, next to Somerset House.

Please register to attend as places are limited to about 50 people: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/famine-in-somalia-competing-imperatives-collective-failures-2011-2012-tickets-24313498328