This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the 2011 to 2012 famine response in Somalia in saving lives and livelihoods, offering livelihood opportunities, supporting quick recovery and complying with accountability standards in the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Understanding the performance and effectiveness of the humanitarian response to emergencies such as the 2011 to 2012 famine in Somalia is important for managing similar large-scale disasters which tend to be more frequent than ever before. It is also vital for addressing the chronic food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. The study was conducted in the Dolow district, Gedo region, Somalia. The study was largely rooted in the qualitative paradigm even though quantitative methodologies were employed to explain certain aspects in order to adequately answer some of the research questions. The case study approach was employed to conduct this study and achieve the research objectives. Despite the need for more evidence-based and local community-driven response to droughts, the 2011 to 2012 famine response was largely relevant to meet the priority needs of affected populations. The response was too late to prevent the death of hundreds of thousands and the suffering of millions of people and the response had to struggle for quite some time to stabilise and reverse a devastating situation. Although the response was not adequate to cover the needs of all affected populations, it had a commendable impact by saving the lives of malnourished children and mothers; minimising suffering from lack of food, water and shelter; restoring livelihoods for host communities; and creating livelihood opportunities for internally displaced families. Compliance with the NGO Code of Conduct and the application of Sphere standards were fair. Strong accountability mechanisms are required to ensure effective beneficiary targeting and curb aid diversion. The beneficiaries of the response stated that they are equally vulnerable to droughts despite an increase in income and agricultural production as a result of the response. Long-term livelihood projects that address structural vulnerabilities and create multipleincome sources are essential for strengthening resilience to droughts. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

It is the contention of this thesis that the activities of, and the influences on, the senior administrators based in the Castle and the Custom House in Dublin during the Great Irish Famine are an essential element to understanding the formulation and execution of Irish Famine relief policy. The principal aim of the study is to articulate the role played by these administrators in the formulation of relief policy. Emphasis is also given to the debates in the Cabinet over Irish relief policy and the influence of the administrators on those debates. The subject of the first chapter is the Science Commission. It examines in turn Peel's motivations for establishing the Science Commission, the chronology of events leading up to its establishment and the activities of the Commissioners both in England and Ireland. The second chapter concerns the Scarcity Commission established by Peel and Graham. It explores the motivations behind the selection of individual Commissioners and the relationships between the Commissioners. It also considers and contrasts the tasks that were officially assigned to the Commissioners and the limited use to which their conclusions were put by the Government. Chapters three and four deal with the Board of Works and in particular its influence on the formulation and administration of relief policy of Richard Griffith, Thomas Larcom, and Harry Jones. The activities of the Commissioners after the reconfiguration of the Board of Works by Act of Parliament in 1846 are examined and the fourth chapter seeks to establish in detail the political context surrounding-the decision to abandon relief by public employment as revealed in the Cabinet discussions at the time. The final chapter examines the actions of Edward Twisleton in Ireland during the Famine and his influence, or lack of it, on the formulation of relief policy. A detailed account is offered of the political context of the Poor Law Extension Act. Twisleton's relationships with both the Treasury and Clarendon, and the motives underlying his resignation in March 1849, are investigated.

In pursuit of the conversion of others, cross-cultural missionaries often experience their own “conversions.” This thesis explores the ways in which one particular missionary, the Welshman Timothy Richard (1845–1919), was transformed by his encounter with China. Focusing specifically on the evolution of his understanding and practice of Christian mission during the first half of his career with the Baptist Missionary Society, the study is structured chronologically in order to capture the important ways in which Richard’s experiences shaped his adaptations in mission. Each of Richard’s adaptations is examined within its appropriate historical and cultural context through analysis of his published and unpublished writings—all while paying careful attention to Richard’s identity as a Welsh Baptist missionary. This approach reveals that rather than softening his commitment to conversion in response to his encounters with China, Richard was driven by his persistent evangelical convictions to adapt his missionary methods in pursuit of greater results. When his experiences in Shandong and Shanxi provinces convinced him that Christianity fulfilled China’s own religious past and that God’s Kingdom promised blessings for souls in this life as well as in the next, Richard widened his theological horizons to incorporate these ideas without abandoning his essential understanding of the Christian gospel. As Richard adjusted to the realities of mission in the Chinese context, his growing empathy for Chinese people and their culture increasingly shaped his adaptations, ultimately leading him to advocate methods and emphases on the moral evidences for Christianity that were unacceptable to some of his missionary colleagues and to leaders in other missions, notably James Hudson Taylor. As the first critical work of length to focus on the early half of Richard’s missionary career, this thesis fills a gap in current scholarship on Victorian Protestant missions in China, offering a challenge to the simplistic conservative/liberal dichotomies often used to categorize missionaries. The revised picture of Richard that emerges reveals his original understanding of “the worthy” in Matthew 10, his indebtedness to Chinese sectarian religion, his early application of indigenous principles, his integration of evangelism and famine relief work, his relative unimportance in the China Inland Mission “Shanxi spirit” controversies of the 1880s, and—most significantly—his instrumental rather than evangelistic interest in the scholar-officials of China. By highlighting the priority of the Chinese (religious) context for Richard’s transformation, this thesis also contributes to the growing volume of historiography on Christianity in modern China that emphasizes the multidirectional influences present in the encounters between Christianity and Chinese culture and religion. Finally, connections between Richard’s evolution and changes taking place within the larger missionary community are also explored, situating Richard within wider discussions of accommodationism in mission, the rise of social Christianity, and evangelistic precursors to fulfillment theology.

This dissertation situates debates over food procurement, provision, and hunger as the key economic and social contestations structuring the late colonial and postcolonial Indian state. It juxtaposes the visions of national statesmen against those advanced by party organizers, scientists, housewives, journalists, and international development workers and diplomats. Examining their promises and plans - and the global contexts in which they were made - this project demonstrates how India's "food question" mediated fundamental arguments over citizenship, governance, and the proper relationship between individuals, groups, and the state. / History

China's rapid economic growth and social transitions have drawn substantial recent attention. However, there is still limited understanding of these phenomena and the mechanisms behind them. This dissertation investigates three aspects of China's development: education, female labor supply and responses to natural shocks. Chapter 1 sheds light on the option value of education by studying the impact of China's college enrollment expansion on educational attainment at the high school level. Standard human capital models without uncertainty rarely address the importance of the option value of education -- the opportunity that a certain level of education provides to obtain a higher level of education. Therefore, changes in option values can affect human capital investment decisions. Combining survey data with provincial statistics and applying a difference-in-differences method, I find that China's college expansion significantly increased the probabilities of enrolling in and completing high school. The probability of completing high school increased more than that of enrolling in high school. Female students benefited more, as did children whose mother had a high school degree. Chapter 2 studies the relationship between fertility and female labor supply. Many empirical studies find a negative correlation between the two, however the evidence on causal effects is weaker because fertility is endogenous. This paper studies the effects of childbearing on women's labor supply and earnings using a plausibly exogenous change, the relaxation of China's One Child Policy, as an instrument for family size. The main findings are that total fertility has no significant impact on time of working as a wage earner, but children under six have a negative effect. Neither total fertility nor children under six affect women's farming time or annual income. Chapter 3 explores the long-term consequences of China's Great Famine from 1959 to 1961. Several studies have investigated the causes of the famine, yet little empirical work examined its consequences. This paper examines a set of health and socioeconomic outcomes that have not been studied. I find a significant positive selection in the height of survivors born during the famine. Individuals born during the famine received less education than those born before or after the famine, were more likely to work in agriculture when starting to work and transferred less money to their parents.

This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the 2011 to 2012 famine response in Somalia in saving lives and livelihoods, offering livelihood opportunities, supporting quick recovery and complying with accountability standards in the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Understanding the performance and effectiveness of the humanitarian response to emergencies such as the 2011 to 2012 famine in Somalia is important for managing similar large-scale disasters which tend to be more frequent than ever before. It is also vital for addressing the chronic food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. The study was conducted in the Dolow district, Gedo region, Somalia. The study was largely rooted in the qualitative paradigm even though quantitative methodologies were employed to explain certain aspects in order to adequately answer some of the research questions. The case study approach was employed to conduct this study and achieve the research objectives. Despite the need for more evidence-based and local community-driven response to droughts, the 2011 to 2012 famine response was largely relevant to meet the priority needs of affected populations. The response was too late to prevent the death of hundreds of thousands and the suffering of millions of people and the response had to struggle for quite some time to stabilise and reverse a devastating situation. Although the response was not adequate to cover the needs of all affected populations, it had a commendable impact by saving the lives of malnourished children and mothers; minimising suffering from lack of food, water and shelter; restoring livelihoods for host communities; and creating livelihood opportunities for internally displaced families. Compliance with the NGO Code of Conduct and the application of Sphere standards were fair. Strong accountability mechanisms are required to ensure effective beneficiary targeting and curb aid diversion. The beneficiaries of the response stated that they are equally vulnerable to droughts despite an increase in income and agricultural production as a result of the response. Long-term livelihood projects that address structural vulnerabilities and create multipleincome sources are essential for strengthening resilience to droughts. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

abstract: ABSTRACT Famine is the result of a complex set of environmental and social factors. Climate conditions are established as environmental factors contributing to famine occurrence, often through teleconnective patterns. This dissertation is designed to investigate the combined influence on world famine patterns of teleconnections, specifically the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Southern Oscillation (SO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), or regional climate variations such as the South Asian Summer Monsoon (SASM). The investigation is three regional case studies of famine patterns specifically, Egypt, the British Isles, and India. The first study (published in Holocene) employs the results of a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) yielding a SO-NAO eigenvector to predict major Egyptian famines between AD 1049-1921. The SO-NAO eigenvector (1) successfully discriminates between the 5-10 years preceding a famine and the other years, (2) predicts eight of ten major famines, and (3) correctly identifies fifty out of eighty events (63%) of food availability decline leading up to major famines. The second study investigates the impact of the NAO, PDO, SO, and AMO on 63 British Isle famines between AD 1049 and 1914 attributed to climate causes in historical texts. Stepwise Regression Analysis demonstrates that the 5-year lagged NAO is the primary teleconnective influence on famine patterns; it successfully discriminates 73.8% of weather-related famines in the British Isles from 1049 to 1914. The final study identifies the aggregated influence of the NAO, SO, PDO, and SASM on 70 Indian famines from AD 1049 to 1955. PCA results in a NAO-SOI vector and SASM vector that predicts famine conditions with a positive NAO and negative SO, distinct from the secondary SASM influence. The NAO-famine relationship is consistently the strongest; 181 of 220 (82%) of all famines occurred during positive NAO years. Ultimately, the causes of famine are complex and involve many factors including societal and climatic. This dissertation demonstrates that climate teleconnections impact famine patterns and often the aggregates of multiple climate variables hold the most significant climatic impact. These results will increase the understanding of famine patterns and will help to better allocate resources to alleviate future famines. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Geography 2017

Orientador: Egberto Ribeiro Turato / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-14T16:32:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Packer_MilenePescatori_M.pdf: 419054 bytes, checksum: 4c762c969689734886832bbc0d1ec1ea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Discutir as vivências relatadas por moradores de rua, com história de uso abusivo de álcool, que passaram a morar em instituição confessional do Município de Campinas, dentro de um programa de acolhimento e de cuidados gerais. Sujeitos e Métodos: Foi empregado o método de pesquisa clínico-qualitativo com entrevista semi-dirigida com questões abertas. A coleta dos dados foi na Fraternidade Toca de Assis. A pesquisa contou com nove sujeitos ex-moradores de rua, sendo usado o critério da saturação para o fechamento da amostra. Foi utilizada a técnica de análise do conteúdo temático para a formação das categorias aprovadas pelos pares. Resultados: Foram extraídos três artigos: "Facilitações e barreiras em pesquisa de campo a propósito do emprego de métodos qualitativos em instituição informal de saúde"; "Pra suprir um vazio no estômago": o uso do álcool segundo relatos de ex-moradores de rua"; "Virei um mendigo": relatos de exmoradores de rua acolhidos em uma Instituição Confessional no Brasil". Discussão: A escolha de um campo que escapa ao habitual dos profissionais institucionalizados na saúde permitiu uma discussão acerca dos desafios da entrada em campo, assim como da coleta dos dados. Consideramos que o relato desta experiência acrescentaria os elementos teóricos à metodologia escolhida. No relato da experiência de vida dos sujeitos da pesquisa foi enfática a relação pessoal desses sujeitos com o fenômeno do uso abusivo do álcool e o processo de desconstrução psicológica da identidade. Conclusões: É possível ser construída uma nova vida, principalmente pelos próprios ex-moradores de rua. Depreende-se que parecem querer sair das ruas, mesmo que isso lhes pareça algo distante. / Abstract: Discuss the experiences of homeless with abuse of alcohol in an institution Confessional. Subjects and Methods: Clinical-qualitative research with semi-structured Interview to open question. Data collection was in the Fraternity Toca de Assis. The research subjects had nine homeless, and used the criterion of saturation for the closing of the sample. Used the technique of analysis of thematic content for the formation of the categories approved by peers. Results: Extracted three papers: "Facilities and barriers in field research by the way of the use of qualitative methods in health informal institution"; "to fill an empty stomach.": the use of alcohol according to reports from ex-homeless"; "turned a beggar": reports of ex-homeless sheltered in a Confessional Institution in Brazil". Discussion: The choice of a field beyond the usual of institutionalized health professionals led a discussion about the challenges of entering the field, as well as data collection. We believe that reporting this experience add elements to the methodology chosen theorists. In reporting the experience of life of research subjects was emphatically a personal relationship with the subject the phenomenon of abuse of alcohol and the process of psychological deconstruction of identity. Conclusions: It can be built a new life mainly by the homeless. It seems that they want to leave the streets, even if this seems distant. / Mestrado / Ciencias Biomedicas / Mestre em Ciências Médicas

The purpose of this master thesis is to understand how political culture was negotiated during times of extreme external conditions, through the example of the parliamentary debates during the famine years 1726–1727. The result is based on the parliamentary protocols of 1726–1727 under the Age of Freedom. To answer the purpose of this study, four questions have been constructed. How was the crop failure and its consequences described? During the summer of 1726 Sweden was struck by a severe famine as a result of a poor harvest. The livestock were weakened and the farms had fallen into destitute. The peasants had to gather roots, bark, and moss to survive. Even the nobility described their own cultural habits and assets as being threatened and damaged. The local community felt that they could not live up to the demands made by the central power. What solutions did the local community propose or demand from the central power to tackle the consequences of the crop failure? The high taxation and lack of money, together with a strictly regulated trade, made the peasants feel forsaken, especially compared to other groups. The main strategies to gain the central powers approval was to show submission, refer to the law and try to compromise. But, when the central power did not respond to the peasants demands they threatened to leave their political duties. If the peasants had left, the entire political system could have collapsed. With what arguments did the central power respond to these problems? The central power feared that if they allowed the peasants to trade to a greater extent, they would perhaps engage in trade rather than in agriculture. They also feared an increased risk of fraud if the market opened up for a more mobile trade, which reflected the suspicion of a lack of morality among the peasants. The lack of trust was also an excuse to exclude the peasants from the Secret committee. The political distribution of power was considered by the peasants to be a political failure. Without the insight into the Secret committee, the peasants could not use economic arguments in the debate. How can the debate about crop failure and famine be understood as an example of political culture? Instead of the peasantry protesting with rebellion against the central powers levies, the Riksdag can be regarded as a safety valve, where the central power and the local society could find middle ground. If the demands of the local community did not collide with other groups' interests, then there was a good chance of getting temporary reliefs or increased freedom of trade.

Famines were recurring events in the early-modern world. This thesis aims to identify and analyse institutional, social, and political parameters that improved or reduced the society’s capacity for crisis management and institutional adaptations in Stockholm in times of foodshortages during the period 1650–1750. The study consists of four case studies. The study shows that the government effectiveness improved during the investigated period, which increased the possibilities to mitigate the consequences of famine. Furthermore, the ambition to protect the social order seems to have been the most important driving force to take measures to ease and prevent famines in Stockholm. I conclude that very few institutional adaptations to prevent future famines were made during the period. Most likely because the elite lacked political incentives to act. The study provides knowledge on societal resilience in the early-modern era