Food Insecurity in Asia

Book excerpt: Achieving food security is vital for any nation. But despite progress in food availability in the postwar period, food insecurity still prevails in many developing countries, with more than half the world's undernourished in Asia. This unacceptable number calls for urgent action. Differences in levels of food security across countries cannot be explained solely by conventional economic arguments, such as resource endowments, country or population size, the level of economic development, and cultural or social differences. This book approaches the issue of food security in a number of Asian and other countries by highlighting the crucial role played by government and economic institutions and by examining how they influence food availability. It lays out valuable policy initiatives for national governments and international bodies, acting through improved institutions, to reduce poverty and inequality and to achieve higher levels of food security nationally and globally.