Political economy of hunger: some remarks and some questions for further research
Heinrichs, J.
Research Reports, Tampere Peace Research Institute 12: 1-9
1976
Document Number: 288515
Hunger, as the lack of food, inadequate nutrition, famine, and starvation affecting large numbers of urban workers as well as rural people, can and should be treated as a problem area of political economy. The paper focusses on these questions which are more or less neglected by the mainstream discussion of the World Food Programme. (1) Whether and in what way the hunger of the masses can be of any benefit to the ruling class? (2) Why is it not profitable to supply adequate food commodities to meet the needs of the people? (3) Can political or economic systems be identified which systematically produce obstacles to supplying sufficient food to all parts of the population? The historical and geographical spread of large-scale hunger shows a clear affinity to the dominance of capitalism. In the industrialized countries a small though not insignificant proportion of the population (old and disabled people, minority groups, large families) is threatened by lack of food. The bulk of hunger and starvation is to be found in the capital dominated countries of the periphery (so-called developing countries), where it often threatens the majority of the population. The socialist countries, whether developed or developing, have managed to provide a sufficient, though often not very rich, diet for the whole population despite deficiencies in the planning of food production. The association of hunger with the dominance of capitalism is presented as due to the fact that it is not in the interest of the capitalist system to provide sufficient food for the people. Some empirical evidence is presented to support this view followed by a more theoretical analysis of the question.