Includes papers and case studies presented at a FAO workshop held in Rome, Italy from 8 to 10 October 2003

'There should be a good market for this book. The topic is very timely and a major theme of the new World Development Report 2008. The editors and contributors are world class.' Derek Byerlee, World Bank 'This is a topic of wide interest and high policy importance. The depth of coverage and excellent synthesis should ensure that the book will have a substantial market in high-level undergraduate and graduate courses in agricultural development. It will have a solid readership among development economists and policy makers as well.' Mark Rosegrant, International Food Policy Research Institute The driving forces of income growth, demographic shifts, globalization and technical change have led to a reorganization of food systems from farm to plate. The characteristics of supply chains - particularly the role of supermarkets - linking farmers have changed, from consumption and retail to wholesale, processing, procurement and production. This has had a dramatic effect on smallholder farmers, particularly in developing countries. This book presents a comprehensive framework for assessing the impacts of changing agri-food systems on smallholder farmers, recognizing the importance of heterogeneity between developing countries as well as within them. The book includes a number of case studies from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe, which are used to illustrate differences in food systems' characteristics and trends. The country case studies explore impacts on the small farm sector across different countries, local contexts and farm types. Published with FAO

Urban population growth is extremely rapid across Africa and this book places urban food and nutrition security firmly on the development and policy agenda. It shows that current efforts to address food poverty in Africa that focus entirely on small-scale farmers, to the exclusion of broader socio-economic and infrastructural approaches, are misplaced and will remain largely ineffective in ameliorating food and nutrition insecurity for the majority of Africans. Using original data from the African Food Security Urban Network’s (AFSUN) extensive database it is demonstrated that the primary food security challenge for urban households is access to food. Already linked into global food systems and value chains, Africa’s supply of food is not necessarily in jeopardy. Rather, the widespread poverty and informal urban fabric that characterizes Africa’s emerging cities impinge directly on households’ capacity to access food that is readily available. Through the analysis of empirical data collected from 6,500 households in eleven cities in nine countries in Southern Africa, the authors identify the complexity of factors and dynamics that create the circumstances of widespread food and nutrition insecurity under which urban citizens live. They also provide useful policy approaches to address these conditions that currently thwart the latent development potential of Africa’s expanding urban population.

Based on the findings of a global research project undertaken by the World Health Organization, this volume systematically analyzes the relationship between globalization and global trends in health outcomes. This will be a necessary addition for scholars studying globalization, health and social policy, and public health across the social sciences.

"The food problems now facing the world-scarcity and starvation, contamination and illness, overabundance and obesity-are both diverse and complex. What are their causes? How severe are they? Why do they persist? What are the solutions? The authors of the more than sixty international case studies contained in these books approach the food system with a multidisciplinary perspective. In three volumes that serve as valuable teaching tools, they call upon the wisdom of disciplines including economics, nutrition, sociology, anthropology, environmental science, medicine, and geography to create a holistic picture of the state of the world's food systems today. The authors focus in on specific cases from all corners of the globe to cover topics including drought and soil conservation; land allocation and cooperative marketing efforts; and food safety measures and advertising policies. In documenting past successes and failures, these case studies provide a valuable foundation for future research and efforts to create truly successful and sustainable food policy."--Pub. desc.

In several developing countries, undernourishment is still prevalent while obesity and its related co-morbidities, including chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, are emerging and contributing increasingly to morbidity and mortality. Several countries are now facing a double burden of malnutrition, i.e. caloric (energy) and micronutrient deficiencies and, at the same time, obesity and diet-related chronic diseases. This "nutrition transition" is associated with rapid economic development, urbanization and global changes, which lead to shifts towards a more energy dense diet, including more fat and sugar and more processed foods, and at the same time dramatic alterations in physical activity patterns and lifestyles. While infectious diseases and maternal and child undernutrition continue to take an enormous toll in lives and health worldwide, the rapid rise of NCDs represents one of the major health challenges to global development in the twenty-first century and threatens economic and social development of nations as well as the lives and health of millions globally. This publication explores the situation of the double burden of malnutrition in six geographically and culturally diverse case study countries and presents conclusions and recommendations from a follow-up workshop with the case study authors.

Despite technological advances in agriculture, nearly a billion people around the world still suffer from hunger and poor nutrition while a billion are overweight or obese. This imbalance highlights the need not only to focus on food production but also to implement successful food policies. In this new textbook intended to be used with the three volumes of Case Studies in Food Policy for Developing Countries (also from Cornell), the 2001 World Food Prize laureate Per Pinstrup-Andersen and his colleague Derrill D. Watson II analyze international food policies and discuss how such policies can and must address the many complex challenges that lie ahead in view of continued poverty, globalization, climate change, food price volatility, natural resource degradation, demographic and dietary transitions, and increasing interests in local and organic food production. Food Policy for Developing Countries offers a "social entrepreneurship" approach to food policy analysis. Calling on a wide variety of disciplines including economics, nutrition, sociology, anthropology, environmental science, medicine, and geography, the authors show how all elements in the food system function together.

Global Health Governance and Policy outlines the fundamentals of global health, a key element of sustainable development. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it explores the relationship between the globalization process and global health’s social, political, economic and environmental determinants. It points the attention to the actors and forces that shape global policies and actions with an impact on peoples’ health in an increasingly complex global governance context. Topics discussed include: The relationship between globalization and the determinants of health The essentials of global health measurements The evolution of public health strategies in the context of the global development agenda The actors and influencers of global health governance The role of health systems The dynamics and mechanisms of global health financing and Development Assistance for Health Career opportunities in global health governance, management and policy Looking in depth at some of the more significant links between neoliberal globalization, global policies and health, Global Health Governance and Policy: An Introduction discusses some specific health issues of global relevance such as changes in the ecosystem, epidemics and the spread of infectious diseases, the global transformation of the food system, the tobacco epidemic, human migration, macroeconomic processes and global financial crisis, trade and access to health services, drugs and vaccines, and eHealth and the global "health 4.0" challenge. Written by a team of experienced practitioners, scientists and teachers, this textbook is ideal for students of all levels and professionals in a variety of disciplines with an interest in global health.