In 1997, over 700 million people are hungry. By 2025, the population of the developing countries alone will be approximately seven billion. This book makes a compelling case for a second green revolution, which builds upon the successful technological transformation and yield gains of the first, but which focuses on a programme of broad-based agricultural development that not only delivers food security but creates employment and income. Professor Conway aruges that sustainable argicultural ecosystems can be developed by partnerships between scientists in the developed and developing countries, and that farmers must participate more actively in the process of development. He illustrates new thinking with field-based examples, and explains the application of molecular and cellular biology in the plant breeding process. The final chapter gives an account of the World Food Summit, held in Rome in Novemer 1996.

Review

"The author provides a clear and concise guide to a key part of what is possibly the most critical question facing humanity."--New Scientist

"A valuable source book that outlines a comprehensive view of world food production as seen through the needs of the world's hungry. . . A book that begins with a disconcerting prediction leaves us instead with a realistic vision of a future where no one goes hungry."--Boston Book Review

"This book is remarkable for its comprehensive treatment of the critical food issues that confront the globe, as well as its very accessible presentation of where we've been--and where we may be headed--in the early years of the new millennium. Dr. Conway's eminently sensible approach to clarifying and addressing the real hunger issues is destined to frame the debate for many years to come."--Per Pinstrup-Andersen, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC