This book analyzes the impact food aid programmes have had over the past fifty years, assessing the current situation as well as future prospects. Issues such as political expediency, the impact of international trade and exchange rates are put under the microscope to provide the reader with a greater understanding of this important subject matter. This book will prove vital to students of development economics and development studies and those working in the field.

This is the first history to be written of the World Food Programme (WFP), the food aid arm of the United Nations System. It tells the story of the antecedents and origins of WFP and growth from modest beginnings as a three-year experiment in 1963-65 to become the main source of international food aid for both disaster relief and development against the background of the evolution and development of food aid. This dual role has put WFP in the front line of the United Nations attack on poverty, hunger and food insecurity.

In the US, there is a wide-ranging network of at least 370 food banks, and more than 60,000 hunger-relief organizations such as food pantries and meal programs. These groups provide billions of meals a year to people in need. And yet hunger still affects one in nine Americans. What are we doing wrong? In Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries, Katie Martin argues that if handing out more and more food was the answer, we would have solved the problem of hunger decades ago. Martin instead presents a new model for charitable food, one where success is measured not by pounds of food distributed but by lives changed. The key is to focus on the root causes of hunger. When we shift our attention to strategies that build empathy, equity, and political will, we can implement real solutions. Martin shares those solutions in a warm, engaging style, with simple steps that anyone working or volunteering at a food bank or pantry can take today. Some are short-term strategies to create a more dignified experience for food pantry clients: providing client choice, where individuals select their own food, or redesigning a waiting room with better seating and a designated greeter. Some are longer-term: increasing the supply of healthy food, offering job training programs, or connecting clients to other social services. And some are big picture: joining the fight for living wages and a stronger social safety net. These strategies are illustrated through inspiring success stories and backed up by scientific research. Throughout, readers will find a wealth of proven ideas to make their charitable food organizations more empathetic and more effective. As Martin writes, it takes more than food to end hunger. Picking up this insightful, lively book is a great first step.

In many countries, prolonged conflicts result in food emergencies that recur over years or even decades. Initial humanitarian relief efforts are rarely replaced by programmes that offer a longer-term perspective on food security. This book provides examples of opportunities to bridge the gap between emergency relief and longer term developmental approaches, which can help us rethink how to support food security in protracted crises. Somalia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo have all been affected by severe protracted crises. For the first time, evidence and in-depth analysis from these countries sheds light on how to support the livelihoods of local populations. Using concrete examples, Beyond Relief demonstrates how food security means different things in different contexts while also advocating a crosscutting learning process for longer-term approaches to protracted crisis. Published in association with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The importance of agricultural growth to poverty reduction is well known, but the specific channels through which the poor can take advantage of growth require further research. Bresciani and Valdâs investigate four important channels: rural labour markets, farm incomes, food prices, and linkages to other economic sectors. Part 1 looks at the synthesis and theoretical background and part 2 is country case studies