ABSTRACT
This chapter lays the theoretical and conceptual groundwork for the book’s empirical research. It starts out by defining the main concepts: food security, development aid and governance. Then it deliberates about how aid in general and in different forms might impact food security and what conditioning role the quality of institutions may play, in view of existing research. These deliberations give rise to several hypotheses. The chapter finishes with a discussion of factors other than aid and governance that influence food security.
