This report is part of a broad study addressed to an assessment of the world food situation undertaken at IIASA. The central objectives of the study are to: evaluate the nature and dimensions of the world food situation; identify the underlying factors; investigate alternative courses of policy action at the national, regional, and global level that may alleviate existing and emerging food problems in years ahead; and develop models suitable for quantifying intra- and intercountry and global food interdependencies based on strategic variables and probable policy alternatives.
Pursuing these objectives the study divides into the following interrelated and integrated components: (I) Assessment of Existing and Prospective World Economic and Food Trends; (II) Evaluation of Physical, Economic and Institutional Factors Affecting the Food and Agriculture Economy; (III) Tracing Linkages Between the World Food Economy and Energy, Water, Chemicals, Climate and Environment and Constraints Imposed by them on (IV) Definition and Measurement of Food and Nutrition Deficiencies; (V) Development of Sets of National and International Policy Strategies for Meeting Food and Nutrition Goals;
This report provides a current assessment of the dimensions of the general problem as background for country modeling efforts underway in the Food and Agriculture project at IIASA
