Length: 27 minutes
Date: 2003
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade level: 7-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:

The Perfect Famine
Examines the causes of, and solutions to, severe famine conditions in Malawi.

The 'Perfect Famine' is the kind of famine that happens when everything that can go wrong does go wrong, either because of natural disasters or because of the activities of humans.
That's what is happening in the southern African country of Malawi, where bad weather, poor governance, and profiteering have combined to create a desperate situation. It is at the epicenter of what may become a major famine in the south of the continent. Families are resorting to strategies such as abandoning villages, stealing crops, and eating next year's seed corn - yet Malawi is a green land that should be able to sustain itself. Although many have thought foreign aid would lift the world's poor out of absolute poverty, there is now a growing consensus that the policies of poor countries and ineffectual bureaucracies are major obstacles to sustainable development.
THE PERFECT FAMINE looks at the role of governance through one African example, and discusses the global issues at hand with development experts and economists.
With the support of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat); the European Commission Directorate General for Development to promote better understanding of development issues; the Directorate General for the Environment; and the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
No reviews available.
Citation
Main credits
Bradshaw, Steve (screenwriter)
Bradshaw, Steve (film director)
Richards, Jenny (editor of moving image work)
Chilembwe, Modesta (on-screen participant)
Magalasi, Collins (on-screen participant)
Jamieson, Robert (on-screen participant)
Malindi, Ellard (on-screen participant)
Nielson, Poul (on-screen participant)
Galbraith, John Kenneth (on-screen participant)
Smith, Fred L (on-screen participant)
Krugman, Paul R. (on-screen participant)
Moreta, Bridget (on-screen participant)
Other credits
Series editor, Jenny Richards.
Distributor credits
Television Trust for the Environment
Steve Bradshaw
Television Trust for the Environment
Steve Bradshaw
Series Editor: Jenny Richards
Post Production Producer:
Ron Orders
Docuseek2 subjects
Hunger
Agriculture and Food
Economics
International Relations and Geopolitics
Globalization
Sustainability
Development
Poverty
African Studies
Distributor subjects
Agriculture
Anthropology
Developing World
Economics
Geography
Global Issues
Globalization
Government
Humanities
Hunger
International Studies
Law
Poverty
Sociology
Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainable Development
United Nations
Keywords
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