The Political Economy of Hunger

WIDER

The World Institute for Development Economics Research, established in 1984, started work in Helsinki in 1985, with the financial support of the Government of Finland. The principal purpose of the Institute is to help identify and meet the need for policy-oriented socio-economic research on pressing global and development problems and their inter-relationships. WIDER's research projects are grouped into three main themes: hunger and poverty; money, finance, and trade; and development and technological transformation.

Volume III deals with the strategic options for the elimination of endemic hunger. The topics covered include: the comparative extent of hunger and deprivation in different parts of the world; the influence of food production; the interconnections between economic growth and public support; the role of economic diversification in reducing vulnerability; the potential impact of direct public provisioning on living standards; and the politics of public action. In addition to general analyses, the book examines the international relevance of a number of specific country experiences in Asia, Africa, and Latin America (including those of China, India, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Kenya, Bangladesh, and Nigeria).

Readership: Development and agricultural economists; political economists; those working in public bodies at national and international levels concerned with the management of food and health resources.

Edited by Jean Drèze, Delhi School of Economics, and Amartya Sen, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge

"`the authors are highly respected and the series draws on an extraordinary data base and comparison between countries. Bringing all this together is Amartya Sen. Lamont University Professor at Harvard, who has an unparalleled reputation for his work on famine, equity, and development economics ... This series forms the most definitive recent analysis of the problems of hunger and deprivation in the three continents of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The range of issues and countries covered is nothing short of extraordinary.' Dissent"

"'The volumes will become a standard reference for research in the field of hunger, famines and poverty and some of the papers are appropriate for reading lists in under- and post-graduate courses. The value of the approach to famine and hunger developed by Sen and Dreze ultimately lies in case studies.' Athar Hussain, London School of Economics, The Economic Journal, Dec '91"

"`Together with its companion volumes, this collection is a valuable contribution to the study of world hunger.' Food Policy"

"`This is a valuable companion to the first two excellent volumes, all desirable additions to upper-division undergraduate and graduate collections in development economics.' Social and Behavioral Sciences"

"'The array of articles in all three Drèze and Sen volumes is astounding.' Thomas R. DeGregori, University of Houston, Africa Today, 4th Quarter 1992"

"'the most ambitious treatment of the intertwined issues of hunger, famines and well-being currently in print ... Drèze and Sen's collection is a massive achievement and will doubtless become an obligatory reference for every student on the subject. Certain essays, notably those by Jean Drèze himself, should also become obligatory reading for all practitioners in the field.' Development and Change, Vol. 24 (1993)"

"A must for the study of poverty and famine." - Arabsheibani, London School of Economics