Why do famines occur and how have their effects changed through time? Why are those who produce food so often the casualties of famines? Looking at the food crisis that struck the West African Sahel during the 1970s, Michael J. Watts examines the relationships between famine, climate, and political economy.

MICHAEL J. WATTS is a professor and Class of 1963 Chair in the Geography and Development Studies Department at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught for thirty-five years. His many books include Global Political Ecology, Reworking Modernity, and The Curse of the Black Gold.