The state of food and agriculture, 1994. Forest development and policy dilemmas
It is difficult to explain the existence of 800 million malnourished people in a world of abundance and with societies capable of admirable scientific and technological feats; our inability to counter the depletion of more than 15 million ha of tropical forest each year during the past decade; or the fact that rich countries and societies have tended to become richer and needy ones needier, while external assistance, particularly to agriculture, has shown a decline in real terms in recent years. The State of Food and Agriculture 1994 examines these issues in the light of recent trends and developments, with a particular focus on the way policy-makers "conduct agriculture". As a special feature, it discusses the difficult policy dilemmas involved in managing our forest resources in a way that ensures equilibrium between economic and social demands, sustainability of production and consumption patterns and environmental stability. This publication reports the accentuation of anomalies and obstacles to economic progress and food security in many parts of the world, but it also reviews a number of positive recent developments in the global political, economic and institutional fields that raise optimistic expectations for the future.