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Coping with Complexity in Food Crisis Management

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Famine

Part of the book series: The GoeJournal Library ((GEJL,volume 1))

Abstract

The causes, consequences, and management of food crises are complex. Geographers with their inherent understanding of complexity can play an important part in meshing relief measures with the long-term development of famine prone areas in developing nations. For this role, they must extend their traditional understanding of concatenation processes, phenology, semiotics, contingency approaches to warning systems, and the concept of comparative evaluation. These geographical ideas are essential elements in the training of key food crisis managers.

The author is grateful to Drs. Martin R.Shaeer and Armin Kressman of the Alimentarium in Vevey for their early suggestions and to my colleagues Stewart Fraser and Dr. Lance Brennan for commenting upon the final draft.

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© 1984 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland

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Currey, B. (1984). Coping with Complexity in Food Crisis Management. In: Currey, B., Hugo, G. (eds) Famine. The GoeJournal Library, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6395-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6395-5_10

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