Economic and Social Perspectives

Economic and Social Perspectives provide guidance on today’s global policy challenges related to food and agriculture. Written in non-technical language, they explain why policy makers need to address a particular issue and how they might do so.

Recent Briefs

Towns and cities are growing rapidly in developing countries. This process is often accompanied by high levels of poverty and hunger, leading many urban dwellers to engage in farming activities to help satisfy their food needs. Policy makers need to [...]

The drastic increase of food prices in the period 2006-2008 spurred fears of global food insecurity. Apart from actual changes in supply and demand of some commodities, the upward swing might also have been amplified by speculation in organized futures [...]

Increasing women’s access to land is crucial to fight hunger and poverty. However, gender disparities in land access remain significant in most countries, regardless of their level of development. A new FAO database helps to understand the factors that prevent [...]

33 countries currently face a food security crisis, 14 of which have been in this situation for more than a decade. When emergencies continue for such extended periods of time, traditional humanitarian and development paradigms are not suitable for guiding [...]