"One of the features of famine is that the price of food rises. Ever since there have been food markets, high

food prices have caused protests, and they have been

implicated in numerous riots and upheavals. And, in so far

as political upheavals can in turn lead to conflict and repression,

they increase the risks of famine in a vicious feedback loop.

But the cause of famine is not a shortfall in global food production

with respect to the world’s human population. What this means is that

the food industry should not use fear of global food crisis or famine as a

justification for its production methods and its business models.

Further improvements in agricultural and food technologies are welcome and may

make a modest improvement to protection from famines in so far as they contribute

to lower poverty and better food systems."

Alex de Waal – Mass starvation – The history and future of famine