National and Regional Self-Sufficiency Goals: Implications for International Agriculture

The drive for agricultural and food self-sufficiency in countries throughout the world has become an important topic in international political discussions. This book uses a basic economic framework to set forth the issues and debates surrounding self-sufficiency and also describes the current situation in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the developed countries. A combination of thematic and region-specific analyses examine various justifications for pursuing goals of agricultural and food self-sufficiency and the mechanisms used to achieve those goals. The authors consider the meaning of self-sufficiency, the degree to which it is being achieved now or is likely to be achieved in the future, and the implications of those factors for world trade and food security.