The success of agriculture in meeting world food needs†

This paper draws freely on a continual exchange of ideas with colleagues in the Foreign Economic Development Service, other U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The green revolution spreading in Asia over the past four years has made significant inroads on the world food problem. Still, it has been a cereal revolution with limited, and perhaps negative, payoffs in terms of high quality protein.

In considering nutritional problems of the low‐income nations, it is not sufficient to consider only the production potential of these countries, important as it is. Incomes must also be considered, for nutritional needs do not mean economic demand.

The sobering reality is that large numbers of people in the low‐income countries do not have the incomes to command the food which would give them adequate diets. This basic phenomenon overhangs all efforts to bring about nutrition improvement. This is the main reason, barring a miracle, why nutrition improvement must be viewed as a long‐term process.

The outlook for income growth is such that great dependence on staple foods will continue and, in turn, protein deficiences will persist for many years. Thus, the challenge is to bring about improvement in a world with severely limited incomes and high levels of unemployment, conditions which restrain all efforts to achieve this goal.

Notes

This paper draws freely on a continual exchange of ideas with colleagues in the Foreign Economic Development Service, other U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.