ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses problem of hunger and inadequate and insecure access to food in the broader context of poverty and underdevelopment. It accesses to agricultural resources such as land, water, technology, and credit and to opportunities for gainful employment in agricultural and examines non-agricultural activities as determinants of the extent of poverty. The chapter argues that calorie requirement-based estimates of under-nutrition and poverty have no scientific basis. The level of development of a country, particularly its agricultural development, affects the extent of poverty and hunger through its effect on employment opportunities of labour households and on the productivity of small farmers. The publicized estimates of the global extent of hunger and undernutrition by international agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Bank have very little scientific basis. The discrepancy between consumption survey-based and production-based estimates of output is not unique to India but has been observed even in advanced countries.
