ABSTRACT
The International Federation of Institutes for Advanced Study proposed in early 1972 to study in detail what was happening to the world as a result of the dramatic anomalies of climate experienced several regions. A climate particularly unfavorable for food production, a soaring demand for food spurred by continuous population growth, and rising affluence have been the reasons normally adduced to explain the food crisis that began in 1972 which resulted in declining food reserves and sky-rocketing food prices. When looking for the "culprit" among them, climate, population pressure and environmental problems come to the fore. When the rains returned, some pastures and marginal lands could again be placed into food production for the local population, who could then recuperate from starvation to be faced merely with severe malnourishment. A society having a socioeconomic structure of low vulnerability is a stable system in which social organization has ingrained response mechanisms to overcome the effects of either short or prolonged droughts.
