World Food Security (PDF)

D. JOHN SHAW was associated with the United Nations World Food Programme for over thirty years, almost from the start of its operations in 1963, latterly as Economic Adviser and Chief of its Policy Affairs Service. He was also a Consultant to the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the World Bank. Previously, he was a postgraduate in Agricultural Economics at the University of Oxford, UK, Senior Lecturer in Rural Economy at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, and Fellow in Agricultural Economics and a founder member of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK. He has written extensively on development, food security and food aid issues and now serves on the International Editorial Board of the journal Food Policy.

'With masterly attention to detail and sources, John Shaw traces the twists and turns of the evolving story of world food security. The strength and originality of Shaw's account is its comprehensiveness, never losing the storyline but bridging the macro and the micro, commodity agreements and global reserves, human rights and early warning systems and the roles of all the UN agencies involved. This fascinating account provides another piece in the jigsaw of the UN's contributions to economic and social governance over the last 60 years and the lessons to be drawn for facing the challenges of the years ahead.' - Professor Sir Richard Jolly, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, and the UN Intellectual History Project, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, USA

'Hunger and under-nutrition provide the graphic images which drive an oft-stated passion for international development - by politicians and ordinary citizens. Why, then, are hunger reduction targets so often missed? John Shaw reminds us that passion and commitment need to be complemented with the hard grind of policy and institutional change. His authoritative history illustrates the frustrations, but also the hope. Hunger in the world is falling partly because we have acted collectively to make it so.' - Simon Maxwell, Director, Overseas Development Institute, London, UK