Food and land are political concepts. Their relative abundance or shortage within an area, a country or a continent can have far reaching consequences. And indeed the issue of how we will feed a growing global population with limited land resources has been seen in recent conferences and debates. And it is now the topic of a new book entitled, The politics of land and food scarcity, published by Earthscan. This book “provides an overview of the new global challenges connected with land, food supply and agriculture. It also contributes to engagement in a new global food policy, through a political analysis of land and food scarcity, including ‘land grabs’ by affluent countries in poorer nations.”
In his blog article, the editor, Paolo De Castro, outlines what he sees as a “paradigm shift from a period of abundance to an era of new kind of scarcity”, and particularly how food insecurity and shortages are no longer the sole domain of the developing world.
As with Gordon Conway, De Castro states that both technology and politics will have to come together to solve the nexus of shortages we face. And despite acknowledging progress at the international level from L’Aquila in 2009 to Camp David in 2012, he states that, “genuine political action on the issue is yet to be taken.”
For more information on the book click here.
Fantastic information post!