Famine

Famine, acute food shortage resulting in widespread starvation. It is usually caused by natural disasters such as drought, floods, or plant diseases causing crop failure. Famines have often dramatically influenced the course of history. In the Irish famine (1846–47), caused by potato blight, millions died and around 1.5 million emigrated, mostly to the U.S. Recently there have been crippling famines in Bangladesh and Africa.