27 June 1980, Volume 208, Number 4451 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR Fool THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE As f Science serves its readers as a forum for the presenta- tion and discussion of important issues related to the ad- relatec vancement of science, including the presentation of mi- tinues nority or conflicting points of view, rather than by pub- lishing only material on which a consensus has been lem of reached. Accordingly, all articles published in Science- including editorials, news and comment, and book re- comes views-are signed and reflect the individual views of the a more authors and not official points of view adopted by the AAAS or the institutions with which the authors are af- Hun filiated. malnul Editorial Board among 1980: RICHARD E. BALZHISER, WALLACE S. BROECK- chroni ER, CLEMENT L. MARKERT, FRANK W. PUTNAM, BRY- ANT W. ROSSITER, VERA C. RUBIN, MAXINE F. SINGER, the po PAUL E. WAGGONER, F. KARL WILLENBROCK 1981: PETER BELL, BRYCE CRAWFORD, JR., E. 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La Cienega Blvd. (213-657- 2772); DORSET, VT. 05251: Fred W. Dieffenbach, Kent the wi Hill Rd. (802-867-5581). Chanc ADVERTISING CORRESPONDENCE: Tenth floor, 1515 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10036. Phone: 212- *The fin 730-1050. rial is ep SCIENCE d, the Hidden Crisis familiar as the energy crisis is to all of us, there is another, energy- d crisis that has been recurring since the beginning of history and con- to plague us today. That is the international food supply and the prob- f world hunger. In many ways, world hunger is a hidden crisis, for it to our attention only in a sporadic fashion. Yet it probably represents e explosive threat to world peace than does nuclear proliferation. iger comes in several varieties. One is literal starvation. Another is itrition (nutritional imbalance), which is far from uncommon, even g the affluent. Today, however, the major variety of world hunger is ic undernutrition, a problem preponderantly though not exclusively of sorer nations. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Ltes that as of 1975 around 450 million people were chronically under- ,hed. Calculating differently, the World Bank put the figure at above I l-one-quarter of the population of the earth. More than half of them iildren, and more of them are women than men. nger is not an inevitable part of the human condition. In our report*, ,esidential Commission on World Hunger declares that "if decisions :tions well within the capability ofnations and people working togeth- re implemented, it would be possible to eliminate the worst aspects of 'rand malnutrition by the year 2000." To accomplish this goal, we increase our efforts to redress the imbalance of food supplies between bveloped nations and the less-developed nations, where hunger pre- its starkest face. Unfortunately, most projections show that even if we inleashed our total agripower, the United States alone still would not le to meet the levels of food demand in the developing countries pro- Lfor the year 2000. Obviously, the solution to the food and hunger Xm in the countries of the developing world lies within their own bor- they must build a self-reliant system of food production and distribu- of the major obstacles to achieving such self-reliance is energy- d. Much of the highly vaunted agricultural productivity in the d States is due to agricultural research based on energy-intensive alogy. Until recently, this same approach was carried over into ransmission of our research and technology to the developing Thus, the developing countries have been holding their own in the w years largely because of strategies and techniques developed as part so-called Green Revolution. Because of their higher rates of popu- growth, these countries have had to achieve food production growth that are higher than those of the developed nations just to stay where Ire on a per capita basis. This the Green Revolution has helped them to 'he elements of the Green Revolution, however, are primarily im- d plant varieties, chemical fertilizers, irrigation, and mechanization- sil fuel-intensive. earch efforts are now shifting away from energy-intensive technology. ew focus is on greater photosynthetic efficiency, more efficient nutri- id water uptake, improved biological nitrogen fixation, and breeding ic resistance to pests and environmental stress. These highly sophisti- promising areas of research will require marshaling of the best scien- llent in both the United States and the developing world. Whether it res germ plasm banks or somatic hybridization, the effort will entail a )orative approach by U.S. agricultural experiment stations, inter- ial agricultural research centers, and scientific institutes in the less- )ped nations. -he long run, we must recognize that knowledge itself-theory, inven- discovery, technology-and human skills must be shared globally if orld hunger problem is to be solved.-CLIFTON R. WHARTON, JR., 'ellor, State University of New York, Albany 12246 al report of the Commission was submitted to President Carter in March 1980. This edito- xcerpted from the author's address to the Economic Club of Detroit on 31 March. o n A p ril 5 , 2 0 2 1 h ttp ://scie n ce .scie n ce m a g .o rg / D o w n lo a d e d fro m http://science.sciencemag.org/ Food, the hidden crisis CR Wharton Jr DOI: 10.1126/science.7384783 (4451), 1415.208Science ARTICLE TOOLS http://science.sciencemag.org/content/208/4451/1415.citation PERMISSIONS http://www.sciencemag.org/help/reprints-and-permissions Terms of ServiceUse of this article is subject to the trademark of AAAS. is a registeredScienceAdvancement of Science, 1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005. The title (print ISSN 0036-8075; online ISSN 1095-9203) is published by the American Association for theScience Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 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