Introduction

This volume describes a range of different perspectives on food security, with an emphasis on the various meanings that are applied to ‘food security’. It presents a number of thematic issues which are investigated and developed in a set of country case studies. Particular attention is paid to the range of trends that are seen to constitute food security ‘crises’, including those facing different populations today, which have been derived from historical processes and long-term trajectories. By understanding how food security crises are conceptualized, the book also looks at different scales: global, local and household responses to crises and risk in rural and urban contexts; arenas of national policy formation and global food regimes; and investment in land and productive technologies. Primary attention is given to the dynamic interplay between old and new challenges and how these different factors generate multiple risks and opportunities. The book explores how factors impinging on food production, access and consumption are embedded in powerful political and market forces and how these influence local actions.