• southerntofu
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      3 years ago

      I didn’t go very far down the Wikipedia page to find information contradicting your simple worldview:

      The first five-year plan changed the output expected from Ukrainian farms, from the familiar crop of grain to unfamiliar crops like sugar beets and cotton. In addition, the situation was exacerbated by poor administration of the plan and the lack of relevant general management. Significant amounts of grain remained unharvested, and—even when harvested—a significant percentage was lost during processing, transportation, or storage.[citation needed]

      In the summer of 1930, the government instituted a program of food requisitioning, ostensibly to increase grain exports. Food theft was made punishable by death or 10 years imprisonment.[53] Food exports continued during the famine, albeit at a reduced rate.[54]

      Under the collectivism policy, for example, farmers were not only deprived of their properties but a large swath of these were also exiled in Siberia with no means of survival.[61] Those who were left behind and attempted to escape the zones of famine were ordered shot.

      So, you shift production, exile/shoot the people with the know-how to cultivate the lands, nominate managers who let food rot, make food theft a death offense… and you wonder why there would be a famine? Better call Sherlock Holmes…