Food Security

William A. Kerr, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Contents: Preface 1. The three pillars of food security – availability, adequate income and increasing productivity PART I AVAILABILITY 2. Famine – failed food security 3. Hardship – the toll of rising prices 4. Local – the myth of self-sufficiency 5. Trade – its central role in availability 6. Food aid – the last resort 7. Man-made crises – war, conflict and food as a weapon PART II ADEQUATE INCOME 8. Poverty policy – food policy versus incomes policy 9. Price policies – the perils of keeping food prices low 10. Food entitlements – stamps and other targeted policies 11. Food deserts – food poverty amongst plenty 12. Food banks – the limits of food charity 13. Directly raising incomes – does reducing poverty lead to food security? PART III INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY 14. The race against time – escaping the Malthusian trap 15. Climate change – the changing geography of food security 16. Science for tomorrow – the long lags in productivity enhancement 17. Can we bet on ‘big science’? – science is only a necessary
condition 18. Social science and increasing productivity – lessons from the Green Revolution 19. Financing investments in productivity – the need for
a mixed strategy PART IV WILL THERE BE GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY IN 2050? 20. The challenge of 2050 – will the nine billion all be seated
with food in front of them? Index