The demography of famines

Demographic considerations are central to an understanding of famine which is in turn essential for the formulation of an appropriate famine prevention policy.

Arup Maharatna uses a wealth of historical material to develop a conceptual framework for examining the relationship between various demographic processes and famines in India during the colonial and post-colonial periods. To this end he examines the pattern of short- and long-term demographic responses to famine and their regional variations, the interaction between famine and epidemics, the age-sex composition of famine mortality and the role of relief policy.

He attributes the declining severity and frequency of famines since the 1870s to the evolution of a liberal and effective relief policy, and the absence of any major famines in post-Independence India to the 'end of colonial rule'. The Demography of Famines will interest demographers, economists and sociologists as well as administrators and policy-makers.