World Food Situation And Prospects

This report is a condensation of remarks by Kenneth R. Farrell, administrator, Economics, Statistics and Cooperation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, at the Festival on Religion and Rural life held in Indianapolis, Indiana, July 31 - August 3, 1978.

The world food situation is currently being rapidly redefined by new driving forces. Income growth, climate change, high energy prices, globalization, and urbanization are transforming food consumption, production, and markets. The influence of the private sector in the world food system, especially the leverage of food retailers, is also rapidly increasing. Changes in food availability, rising commodity prices, and new producer-consumer linkages have crucial implications for the livelihoods of poor and food-insecure people. Analyzing and interpreting recent trends and emerging challenges in the world food situation is essential in order to provide policymakers with the necessary information to mobilize adequate responses at the local, national, regional, and international levels. It is also critical for helping to appropriately adjust research agendas in agriculture, nutrition, and health. Not surprisingly, renewed global attention is being given to the role of agriculture and food in development policy, as can be seen from the World Bank's World Development Report, accelerated public action in African agriculture under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and the Asian Development Bank's recent initiatives for more investment in agriculture, to name just a few examples.

This report is a condensation of remarks by Kenneth R. Farrell, administrator, Economics, Statistics and Cooperation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, at the Festival on Religion and Rural life held in Indianapolis, Indiana, July 31 - August 3, 1978.

The global food crisis is a stark reminder of the fragility of the global food system. The Global Food Crisis: Governance Challenges and Opportunities captures the debate about how to go forward and examines the implications of the crisis for food security in the world’s poorest countries, both for the global environment and for the global rules and institutions that govern food and agriculture. In this volume, policy-makers and scholars assess the causes and consequences of the most recent food price volatility and examine the associated governance challenges and opportunities, including short-term emergency responses, the ecological dimensions of the crisis, and the longer-term goal of building sustainable global food systems. The recommendations include vastly increasing public investment in small-farm agriculture; reforming global food aid and food research institutions; establishing fairer international agricultural trade rules; promoting sustainable agricultural methods; placing agriculture higher on the post-Kyoto climate change agenda; revamping biofuel policies; and enhancing international agricultural policy-making. Co-published with the Centre for International Governance Innovation

This brochure highlights the facts and issues stated in the comprehensive study published by the Economic Research Service, "The World Food Situation and Prospects to 1985." The study concludes that the world food status can be traced to government policies and basic human conditions, such as poverty.

Research paper on world food security problems and future prospects - asserts that appropriate food policy in developing countries and in the USA (role of USA) can increase world food production adequately so as to avert major food shortages. References and statistical tables.