--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Famines are easy to prevent if there is a…" description: "\"Famines are easy to prevent if there is a serious effort to do so, and a democratic government, facing elections and criticisms from opposition parties..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/amartya-sen-2518_active_famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is_1481086.jpg" --- # Famines are easy to prevent if there is a serious effort… ![“Famines are easy to prevent if there is a serious effort to do so, and a democratic government, facing elections and criticisms from opposition parties and independent newspapers, cannot help but make such an effort. Not surprisingly, while India continued to have famines under British rule right…” quote by Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/amartya-sen-2518_active_famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is_1481086.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/amartya-sen-2518_active_famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is_1481086.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/amartya-sen-2518_active_famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is_1481086.jpg) > “Famines are easy to prevent if there is a serious effort to do so, and a democratic government, facing elections and criticisms from opposition parties and independent newspapers, cannot help but make such an effort. Not surprisingly, while India continued to have famines under British rule right up to independence... they disappeared suddenly with the establishment of a multiparty democracy and... a free press and an active political opposition constitute the best early-warning system a country threaten by famines can have.” [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Democratic institutions, free press, and political opposition act as early warning systems that prevent famines. **In simple terms:** Democracy and free media help avert famines. Key Takeaway Support democratic accountability. Themes politics food security governance Mood analytical optimistic Type policy educational When to use this quote - government planning - media monitoring - NGO advocacy Key Concepts institutional economics public policy Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens strengthen early‑warning mechanisms? - What role does media play in famine prevention? A Different Perspective Democracies can still fail without effective implementation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [British](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Democratic government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democratic-government/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Election](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/election/) [Establishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/establishment/) [Famine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/famine/) [Free press](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-press/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Independence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independence/) [India](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/india/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [Opposition parties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposition-parties/) [Party](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/party/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Warning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warning/) ## Related quotes > [If the government is vulnerable to public opinion, then famines are a dreadfully bad thing to have. You can’t win many elections after a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/if-the-government-is-vulnerable-to-public-opinion-then-famines-are-a/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [Famines occur under a colonial administration, like the British Raj in India or for that matter in Ireland, or under military dictators in one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/famines-occur-under-a-colonial-administration-like-the-british-raj-in/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [You can’t prevent undernourishment so easily, but famines you can stop with half an effort. Then the question was why don’t the governments stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/you-can-t-prevent-undernourishment-so-easily-but-famines-you-can-stop/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [I attempted to see famines as broad "economic" problems (concentrating on how people can buy food, or otherwise get entitled to it), rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/i-attempted-to-see-famines-as-broad-economic-problems-concentrating/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [From the mid-1970s, I also started work on the causation and prevention of famines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/from-the-mid-1970s-i-also-started-work-on-the-causation-and/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [The media are so key in a national emergency, especially when opposition parties in the U.K. are - let us say - largely in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-fox/the-media-are-so-key-in-a-national-emergency-especially-when/) [Claire Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-fox/) > [Could there possibly have been an incumbent more easy to knock-off than George W. Bush? A real-life opposition party would have been insulted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-cooper/could-there-possibly-have-been-an-incumbent-more-easy-to-knock-off/) [Marc Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-cooper/) > [There is nothing I dread so much as the division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/there-is-nothing-i-dread-so-much-as-the-division-of-the-republic-into/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [We will fight against any pro-nuclear power plan. And we will remind people that a change in the German nuclear consensus would stifle the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmar-gabriel/we-will-fight-against-any-pro-nuclear-power-plan-and-we-will-remind/) [Sigmar Gabriel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmar-gabriel/) > [The fear among economists across the political spectrum that was - was that we were rapidly plummeting towards a second Great Depression. So, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-fear-among-economists-across-the-political-spectrum-that-was-was/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [In any case, to the extent that the media is dedicated to exposing lies and reporting the truth, it is indeed the opposition party…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-drum/in-any-case-to-the-extent-that-the-media-is-dedicated-to-exposing/) [Kevin Drum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-drum/) > [I am not predicting here that Obama will fail like Jimmy Carter. What I am predicting is the Republican Party is not extinct and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-rollins/i-am-not-predicting-here-that-obama-will-fail-like-jimmy-carter-what/) [Ed Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-rollins/) > [Hikes in the debt ceiling - without any political demands from the opposition party - had been routine until President Obama took office.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-williams/hikes-in-the-debt-ceiling-without-any-political-demands-from-the/) [Juan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-williams/) > [Opposition parties which have no concern for the welfare of Tamil Nadu or its people have been carrying out a campaign of lies. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-jayalalithaa/opposition-parties-which-have-no-concern-for-the-welfare-of-tamil/) [J. Jayalalithaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-jayalalithaa/) > [Moving from an opposition party to a governing party comes with growing pains. And, well, we're feeling those growing pains today. Doing big things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/moving-from-an-opposition-party-to-a-governing-party-comes-with/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) ## More by Amartya Sen > [Capability is just a concept of what is it we're looking at. Now how far we can go along that and what new capabilities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/capability-is-just-a-concept-of-what-is-it-we-re-looking-at-now-how/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [Human life consists of doing certain things ... to take part in the life of the community; to be able to talk about subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/human-life-consists-of-doing-certain-things-to-take-part-in-the-life/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/where-the-mind-is-without-fear-and-the-head-is-held-high-where/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [Violence is fomented by the imposition of singular and belligerent identities on gullible people, championed by proficient artisans of terror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/violence-is-fomented-by-the-imposition-of-singular-and-belligerent/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [I think the whole progress over the last two or three millennia has been entirely dependent on ideas and techniques and commodities and people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/i-think-the-whole-progress-over-the-last-two-or-three-millennia-has/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [No famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/no-famine-has-ever-taken-place-in-the-history-of-the-world-in-a/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [To say that certainly America was very lucky to get a large amount of land, and the native Indians were extremely unlucky to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/to-say-that-certainly-america-was-very-lucky-to-get-a-large-amount-of/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [The lack of economic freedom could be a very major reason for loss of liberty, liberty of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/the-lack-of-economic-freedom-could-be-a-very-major-reason-for-loss-of/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [We need to ask the moral questions: Do I have a right to be rich? And do I have a right to be content…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/we-need-to-ask-the-moral-questions-do-i-have-a-right-to-be-rich-and/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [“He wrote extensively on how schools should be made more attractive to boys and girls and thus more productive. His own co-educational school at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/he-wrote-extensively-on-how-schools-should-be-made-more-attractive-to/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [One has to be realistic. One’s concern for equity and justice in the world must not carry one into the alien territory of unreasoned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/one-has-to-be-realistic-one-s-concern-for-equity-and-justice-in-the/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [While I am interested both in economics and in philosophy, the union of my interests in the two fields far exceeds their intersection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics-and-in-philosophy-the-union/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [I was born in a University campus and seem to have lived all my life in one campus or another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/i-was-born-in-a-university-campus-and-seem-to-have-lived-all-my-life/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [If jobs are important, education is important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/if-jobs-are-important-education-is-important/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [Thailand's economic development was driven by educational expansion. That has been a very dramatic factor, and South Asia had been pretty miserable in not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/thailand-s-economic-development-was-driven-by-educational-expansion/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) [Explore all 162 Amartya Sen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) ## More Active quotes > [Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/listening-is-a-very-active-awareness-of-the-coming-together-of-at/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [We in US need active intelligence: people being on the streets, people being able to stop and ask questions of individuals that they suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-guilfoyle/we-in-us-need-active-intelligence-people-being-on-the-streets-people/) [Kimberly Guilfoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-guilfoyle/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I eat healthy most of the time. Whole foods are the best for you when you are super active, so I get plenty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witney-carson/i-eat-healthy-most-of-the-time-whole-foods-are-the-best-for-you-when/) [Witney Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witney-carson/) > [Art shows us how to see things that are constructive and good, and to be an active part of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-shows-us-how-to-see-things-that-are-constructive-and-good-and-to/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-heyward/love-like-truth-and-beauty-is-concrete-love-is-not-fundamentally-a/) [Carter Heyward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-heyward/) > [Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/studying-sol-s-interior-by-looking-for-analogous-patterns-on-its/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Science manipulates things and gives up living in them. It makes its own limited models of things; operating upon these indices or variables to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/science-manipulates-things-and-gives-up-living-in-them-it-makes-its/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [I stayed in L.A. long enough to get on my feet, and then I moved back to New York. The reason I moved here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/i-stayed-in-l-a-long-enough-to-get-on-my-feet-and-then-i-moved-back/) [Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/) > [The answer to any challenge you are having has nothing to do with God's willingness to help. It has to do with your acceptance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beckwith/the-answer-to-any-challenge-you-are-having-has-nothing-to-do-with-god/) [Michael Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beckwith/) > [Pete Townsend for me was a huge influence. Because essentially they were a three-piece band and the way he structured his chords and took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-lifeson/pete-townsend-for-me-was-a-huge-influence-because-essentially-they/) [Alex Lifeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-lifeson/) > [There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us. Step one is to recognize this. This recognition alone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/there-is-an-enemy-there-is-an-intelligent-active-malign-force-working/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Few, if any, creatures are equally active all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/few-if-any-creatures-are-equally-active-all-night/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [You need to enjoy yourself and just get into the routine of keeping fit and enjoying being active. That's always easier once you've made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-brownlee/you-need-to-enjoy-yourself-and-just-get-into-the-routine-of-keeping/) [Alistair Brownlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-brownlee/) Browse all 2,212 Active quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Famines are easy to prevent if there is a serious effort to do so, and a democratic government, facing elections and criticisms from opposition parties and independent newspapers, cannot help but make such an effort. Not surprisingly, while India continued to have famines under British rule right up to independence... they disappeared suddenly with the establishment of a multiparty democracy and... a free press and an active political opposition constitute the best early-warning system a country threaten by famines can have.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amartya Sen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is-a-serious-effort-to-do-so-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Active" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is-a-serious-effort-to-do-so-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/amartya-sen-2518_active_famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is_1481086.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/amartya-sen-2518_active_famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is_1481086.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/amartya-sen-2518_active_famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is_1481086.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Famines are easy to prevent if there is a serious effort to do so, and a democratic government, facing…” — Amartya Sen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Amartya Sen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Famines are easy to prevent if...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is-a-serious-effort-to-do-so-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is-a-serious-effort-to-do-so-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```