Food Security and Nutrition

The persistence of an unacceptably high level of hunger and malnutrition worldwide presents a serious challenge to the world on the threshold of the third millenium. Although enough food is produced to feed mankind, about 840 million people go hungry; among them are 185 million pre-school children that are severely underweight for their age. Since an additional 80 million people have to be fed each year, achieving food security is a central global challenge, if not the most important development issue.

The aim of the reader is to analyze actual problems in the field of food security and nutrition and to discuss present and future strategies to overcome hunger. Food security is a complex subject. In order to master this complexity, we distinguish between four dimensions of analyses: Theoretical-analytical, empirical-descriptive, normative-political, institutional.

Contributors: Cesar Deben Alfonso, Peter Ay, Friederike Bellin-Sesay, Peter von Blankenburg, Joachim von Braun, John C. Caldwell, William D. Clay, Mark Cohen, Bernd V. Dreesmann, Günter Dresrüsse, Asbjorn Eide, Geog Elwert, Javier Ekboir, Bernhard Glaeser, Albert Hoegner, M. Anwar Hussain, Noriko Kashiwagi, Uwe Kracht, Klaus Lampe, Klaus M. Leisinger, Uma Lele, Benjamin Ariel Marte, Elisabeth Meyer-Renschhausen, Hans Pfeifer, Theo Rauch, George E. Rossmiller, Frances Sandiford-Rossmiller, David E. Sahn, Lazare Séhouéto, Detlef Schwefel, Hans Schoeneberger, Bernd Schubert, Manfred Schulz, Ismail Serageldin, Manohar Sharma, D. John Shaw, Gerd Spittler, Pieter van Steekelenburg, Friedhelm Streiffeler, Parto Teherani-Krönner, Peter Uvin, Gerhard Wenzel, Gabriele Zdunnek, Manfred Zeller.

Co-published with St. Martin's Press, New York.

Uwe Kracht works for the World Alliance for Nutrition and Human Rights / Rome.

Manfred Schulz is Professor for Sociology at the Freie Universität Berlin.