new statistical techniques in the study of food supplies and needs. It provided
a concrete basis for information and data and was quoted by world leaders in
support of the FFHC. The survey showed that calorie supplies in Europe, North
America and Oceania exceeded requirements by 20 per cent. In Africa, the Near
East and Latin America they were about equal to requirements. In Asia and the Far
East, supplies fell short by 11 per cent. The broad conclusion was that between one-
third and one-half of the world's population suffered from malnutrition. While
improvement had occurred in the developed countries since the 1952 world food
survey, progress in the less developed countries was hardly enough to regain the
unsatisfactory pre-war level.
related to the problem of hunger. No less than 23 studies were produced covering
such subjects as Weather and Food (WHO, 1962), Nutrition and Working Efficiency
(FAO, 1962b), Education and Training in Nutrition (FAO, 1962c), Population and
Food Supplies (UN, 1962b), Aspects of Economic Development The Background to
Freedom from Hunger (UN, 1962b), Possibilities of Increasing World Food Produc-
tion (FAO, 1963b), Malnutrition and Disease (WHO, 1963), Hunger and Social Policy
(ILO, 1963), Education and Agricultural Development (UNESCO, 1963) and Towards a
Strategy for Agricultural Development (FAO, 1969). All these studies were essentially
interconnected and dealt with different aspects of the same central theme, the
problems of economic development in the developing countries. They provided
background information and material for the briefs of delegates at sessions of
ECOSOC, the UN General Assembly, the FAO Council and Conference, the other
UN specialized agencies, and international NGOs. In particular, they served to
increase awareness of the various dimensions of hunger and the importance
of food and nutrition. The studies showed that although raising the levels of
productivity and income in agriculture should provide the basic orientation of
FFHC activities, such an aim could not be pursued in isolation. It was intimately
bound up with the dynamics of general economic growth and with the social
milieu in which various institutional factors operated to enhance or retard that
growth. The problem had acquired a new dimension as a result of an unpre-
cedented rate of population increase. And the farmer, upon whom prosperity
and a sense of security the well-being of the community as a whole largely
rested, had emerged as the central figure in any scheme for economic and social
advancement.
than in other occupations and that productivity depended not only on differ-
ences in technical knowledge and equipment but also on marketing facilities,
price stability and the land tenure system. It brought out that agricultural devel-
opment should keep pace with progress in other sectors, which benefited from
a parallel development in agriculture. In the early stages of development, agri-
culture was the main source of manpower and investment resources. As a result,