Ecological and political aspects of food shortage in the 1990s

In evaluating the causes of food shortage, politics has been implicated more than the weather. This is because politicians shape the environment of response to ecological conditions. They also shape the trade-and-aid policies that determine whether households, regions, and countries produce enough food to provision themselves or have affordable terms for import and purchase. National politicians and policies also determine the extent to which regions and localities can retain or develop food self-reliance. Throughout much of the developing world, small farmers have capacities to improve production but lack certain access to land, moisture, seeds, and markets to make optimal use of that potential. They also lack access to basic services, such as health and education, that could improve their lives and prevent food shortage.

Since the 1990s, the international (UN) community has sponsored a number of century-end summit meetings to take stock of current resources and to plan for the future: these were the (UNICEF) World Summit for Children (1990), UNICEF-WHO Conference on Ending Hidden Hunger (1991), International Conference on Nutrition (ICN, 1992), UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, 1992), World Conference on Human Rights (1993), International Conference on Population and Development (1994), World Summit on Social Development (1994), Fourth World Conference on Women (1995), and World Food Summit (WFS, 1996). Almost all addressed two principal dimensions of food shortage and its prevention - the need for better mapping of hunger vulnerability, and the need for more stable political environments for food security. Although especially UNCED, the ICN, and the WFS addressed a plethora of additional technical, economic, social, and cultural issues surrounding food security now and into the twenty-first century, these two dimensions are probably the most significant for addressing local to global food-shortage problems. Implementation of the first is likely to be assisted by the momentum of political will generated by the various summits; implementation of the second is unlikely to be affected by international proclamations. In philosophical or humanitarian terms, few disagree that adequate food is a human right. But most continue to disagree over how to achieve universal food security in a world context divided by socio-economic inequalities, ethnic differences, and narrower country-level political interests. Biotechnological initiative that may break the "yield barrier," and adaptive research and extension to narrow the "yield gap" in basic foods, may help production keep up with population growth and prevent food shortage. But achieving food security for households and individuals remains a greater challenge.