ABSTRACT
One of the most striking characteristics of the world is the uneven level of economic development: between continents, nation states, and regions. The issue of food production and the persistence of hunger is closely intertwined with the issue of general economic development. The process of development under conditions of colonialism was quite different from that in the independent industrialized states in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Economic development was dictated by the principles of mercantile colonialism. While the local population increased, employment opportunities in manufacturing were greatly limited, resulting in the rapid expansion of the service sector of the urban economy. The destruction of the infant manufacturing sector disrupted village and town life and “agrarianized” societies: people were forced back into agriculture. In the industrializing countries, development was a complementary process between agriculture and manufacturing, and between the consumer goods industry and the capital goods industry.
