In efforts to promote a sustainable future for the global economy we must first begin to investigate our mistakes of the past. Throughout human history there has been documented evidence of severe famine that has helped to eradicate certain civilizations. “ A famine is a severe shortage of food accompanied by a significant increase in the death rate” (Wright, 2008, p.238). The Irish Potato Famine also known as the Great Famine in Ireland occurred during the period of 1846 to 1852 and was by far one of worst famines recorded in human history. Approximately one third of the population in Ireland was exposed to infectious diseases or death from starvation due to the notorious potato blight.
The potato blight was caused by a fungus known as, phytophthora infestans, which can wipe out potato plants overnight and infect other plants such as tomatoes. The fungus develops during warm and humid climatic weather and can spread through the air (Harrison, 2010) . This potato blight was the main environmental cause of famine during this era as it destroyed roughly sixty percent of the country’s food supply.
According to ideologists the famine of Ireland was indeed a natural catastrophe, however efforts to reduce the effects from this disaster was not actively taken by the social and political parties of that time, which significantly made an impact on the severity of human suffering. Circulating questions in regards to political intervention have often asked why the British government did not do more to mitigate the effects of the famine. As a variety of conditions such as warfare, poor communications, and corrupt government administration make it difficult to deliver food to those in need during modern famines, this was not the case for Ireland during the time frame since the country was reportedly at peace with an improved network of communications to include developed roadways and canals. The bureaucratic nation was also known to be one of the wealthiest nations during that
period. Therefore it is puzzling to understand why so many problems arose from the potato blight.
There were supposedly three economic doctrines that prevented interference from the British government one of which was known as laissez-faire. Under this doctrine the government would have had no authority to enforce any preventable measures towards putting a halt on the exportation of food products during the winter season where food sources were scarce. Protestant evangelical belief in divine providence and an ethnic prejudice against the Catholic Irish were also the main reasoning behind the British government’s non-action and failure to provide relief and financial aid (Donnelly, 2009).
Luckily it is safe to assume government practices in contemporary times are more catered towards providing relief to countries who are facing economic devastations. The World Food Program, a subsidy of the United Nations, is responsible for administering global food aid as it receives most of its donations from developed nations such as the United States, Japan, and other European provinces (Wright, 2008). As for the prevention of the potato blight itself, modern day farming practices and harvesting techniques have been introduced in order to help provide treatment to the spread of this potato disease. Sarpo Hungarian, a variety of potatoes that has been successfully presented to the market, is unique in that it is considered to be incredibly blight resistant (Harrison, 2010).
Therefore a increase in government influence towards providing relief for famines and an improvement in farming technologies are the main source of prevention towards another economic strain like the Irish Famine.
Sources:
Donnelly, J. (2009). The Irish Famine. Retrieved July 19, 2010, from British History in depth.
Harrison, J. (2004). Potato Blight. Retrieved July 19, 2010, from Allotment Vegetable
Wright, R., (2008). Environmental Science 10th edition, Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall: New Jersey.
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