In 1981, Sen published Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation (1981), a book in which he argued that famine occurs not only from a lack of food, but from inequalities built into mechanisms for distributing food.
1981. aastal avaldas Sen raamatu "Poverty and Famines: an Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation", milles väitis, et näljahädad ei tulene mitte üksnes toidu puudusest, vaid ka toidu jagamise mehhanismides leiduvast ebavõrdsusest.