Food security crisis vs. Famine

Food security refers to the availability of food, generally at the national level. When the storage of food of a nation runs out due to climate, political or social factors, the authorities must act in response. As we know, every crisis is not a disaster. In these cases of food scarcity, food insecurity would be declared a crisis that can lead to a major disaster, a famine. These issues can be caused by proximate or distant causes. A proximate cause would be a drought or a climate factor, as it happened in Sudan in 2011, or in Ethiopia in the mid 1980s. A distant cause would be a long term reason in the structure of the nation, such as a civil conflict. For instance, the famine in Ethiopia at the end of the twentieth century was aggravated by the civil war. The Ethiopian government, the Derg, used food as a weapon of war to combat the rebel groups in Eritrea. 

Once there is a food scarcity in a nation, the United Nations along with governmental and non governmental aid agencies proceed to determine if it is the case of a famine. A famine can be declared only when certain measures of mortality, malnutrition and hunger are met. These are: “at least 20 per cent of households in an area face extreme food shortages with a limited ability to cope; acute malnutrition rates exceed 30 per cent; and the death rate exceeds two persons per day per 10,000 persons.” When a disaster such as famine is declared there is more international coverage and visibility which leads to more international response. Even though the declaration of a famine does not obligate the UN or other organizations to get involved in the problem, when a famine is declared it serves to focus global attention in the issue and to increase the humanitarian response to it. According to WFP, famines have been declared in recent years in southern areas of Sudan in 2008, in the Somali region of Ethiopia in 2000, in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 1996, in Somalia in 1991-1992, and Ethiopia in 1984-1985. On the other hand, when food shortages do not meet the scale of a famine, they are not usually covered by the media, which implies a reduced or inexistent humanitarian response. For instance, in the last years about 10 million people in Southern Africa has died due to food shortages. In Malawi 70 percent of the population is affected and there has not been the same international coverage as the famines in Ethiopia, Sudan or Somalia. Most of these crises did not meet the requirements to be declared as a famine. Thus, the response to food crises depends on the scale of it and its declaration as a disaster, in this case famine, and consequently, the international coverage to attract humanitarian aid attention. 

Here is a link to a video that explains the food crisis in Burkina in 2012. As I explained, because it is not yet declared as a famine, the coverage of this issue has been very little. The consequences of this ignorance of the problem can be extreme, aggravating the situation in the country. 
What are the consequences for Burkina and other countries that are suffering food crises but not famine? Is humanitarian aid arriving only in countries where famine is declared and ignoring extreme food crises that also cause deaths? 

Links to articles:
http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pubs/ib/ib8.pdf
http://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2013/09/harvesting-peace-food-security-conflict-cooperation/#.UytRJqXLDwI
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39113#.Uyt5jaXLDwJ