Who's hungry? And how do we know? : Food shortage, poverty, and deprivation / Laurie DeRose, Ellen Messer, and Sara Millman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

DeRose, Laurie Fields, 1968-

Contributor:

Messer, Ellen, 1948-

Millman, Sara.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Poverty.

Hunger.

Starvation.

Food supply.

Nutrition policy.

Famines.

War and society.

Economic sanctions.

Physical Description:

xi, 201 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Tokyo ; New York : United Nations University, [1998]

Summary:

Who's Hungry? And How Do We Know? recognizes that any attempt to reduce hunger requires a sound understanding of which people are affected. It differentiates between food shortage (regional food scarcity), food poverty (inadequate household food supplies), and food deprivation (individual malnutrition) in order to identify the causes of hunger and recommend means for effectively targeting interventions. The second question -- how we know who the hungry are -- receives as much attention as the basic question of who is suffering from hunger. The authors explain commonly used means of measuring hunger, the assumptions embedded in these measures, and what we can and cannot conclude from the available evidence. Some questions about who is hungry receive far more definitive answers than others because the evidence differs in both quantity and quality. This book also examines how rules for food distribution operate under normal versus crisis conditions. The shortage/poverty/deprivation framework is designed to call attention to hunger even when food is abundant as well as to learn how hunger is avoided even when food is scarce. The framework also integrates the insights of disciplines focusing on one or another of the levels, as well as the distinctive policy foci of various organizations. There are already many tools in place for combating hunger. This book draws attention to the policies which are working as well as to the individuals, households, and communities which are underserved. Hunger is damaging and avoidable. To address the underlying causes of hunger rather than merely attempt its amelioration, causes must be clearly understood. Who's Hungry? And How Do We Know? refines common thinking about the underlying causes of hunger by examining which people are most affected.

Contents:

Framework: Food shortage, food poverty, food deprivation 1

Links between levels of hunger 2

Why hunger matters 5

2 Measuring hunger / Sara R. Millman, Laurie F. DeRose 20

Input: Enough to eat? 21

Output: Nutritional outcomes 37

Relations among the hunger indicators 47

3 Food shortage / Ellen Messer, Laurie F. DeRose 53

Is there a world food shortage? 54

Where are there regional food shortages? 57

How common are country-level food shortages? 59

Causes of shortage 60

The relationship between drought and famine 82

Ecological and political aspects of food shortage in the 1990s 86

4 Food poverty / Laurie F. DeRose 92

Causes of food poverty 92

Kinds of data 106

Case study: The importance of non-market entitlements 120

Policy recommendations to reduce food poverty 121

5 Food deprivation / Sara R. Millman, Laurie F. DeRose 131

Causes of deprivation 131

Measurement of food deprivation 133

Evidence 137

6 Conflict as a cause of hunger / Ellen Messer 164

Food shortage related to conflict 166

Food poverty related to conflict 170

Distribution of conflict-related food poverty 171

Food deprivation related to conflict 172

The hunger costs of sanctions 173

Underlying conditions 173

Humanitarian and political principles and institutions limiting conflict-related hunger 174

Measuring the "hunger" costs of conflict 176

Patterns of risk 181

Policy implications 185

Synthesis 187.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9280809857

OCLC:

37955574