Food problems - the efficient production or procurement of food and its appropriate distribution among members of society - are problems endemic to mankind. Yet the nature and dimensions of these problems have been changing over time. As economic systems have developed, specialization has increased; and this has led to increased interdependences of rural and urban areas, of agricultural and nonagricultural sectors, and of nations. When the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) began the Food and Agriculture Program (FAP) in 1976, we started with these objectives: (1) To...

Food problems - the efficient production or procurement of food and its appropriate distribution among members of society - are problems endemic to mankind. Yet the nature and dimensions of these problems have been changing over time. As economic systems have developed, specialization has increased; and this has led to increased interdependences of rural and urban areas, of agricultural and nonagricultural sectors, and of nations. When the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) began the Food and Agriculture Program (FAP) in 1976, we started with these objectives: (1) To...