Pinstrup-Andersen co-pens new book on food policy

Despite technological advances in agriculture, nearly a billion people around the world still suffer from hunger and poor nutrition. Another billion are overweight or obese. This imbalance highlights the need not only to focus on food production but also to implement successful food policies. In a new 424-page textbook, "Food Policy for Developing Countries: The Role of Government in Global, National and Local Food Systems" (Cornell University Press), the 2001 World Food Prize Laureate Per Pinstrup-Andersen, the H.E. Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy, and economist Derrill Watson II of the American University of Nigeria, analyze how national and international food policies can and must address the complex challenges that lie ahead. They identify policy options to guide food systems for developing countries to better achieve such goals as reducing poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition; improving health and economic growth; sustainably managing natural resources; and reducing adverse interactions with climate change. Pinstrup-Andersen will sign copies at a book event Oct. 7, 4 p.m., at the A.D. White House.