1640 



capital-intensive, methods. (In other words, the most modern tech- 

 niques may not necessarily be the most applicable, as far as the less 

 developed countries are concerned.) 



If the study were to be rewritten today there would be no change in 

 its emphasis in any significant way. Few changes appear to have oc- 

 curred in the subject covered except that, as noted above, the food 

 problem has become even more critical. Parts of the sections on the 

 technology of the problem, particularly the technology of birth control, 

 might need revision in light of the latest research. 



The study is as important to congressional concerns as when it was 

 written, and perhaps even more so. Recent famines, the World Food 

 Conference, and the earlier World Population Conference in Bucharest 

 have higlilighted the problems of food and population once again. 

 U.S. food export policy appears to have become a more important 

 political issue than it was during the period when the study was in 

 preparation. 



The study seems as relevant now to the project series as at the time 

 it was written. Certainly the relationship of food supply to population 

 is one that is markedly affected by the state of technology in each of 

 these fields. It is equally certain that the food/population problem 

 is at the forefront of the concerns of world diplomacy. Consequently 

 the study can still serve as a highly appropriate vehicle for exploring 

 the interaction of science, technology, and diplomacy. 



FOOD/POPULATION PROBLEM INSEPARABLE FROM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 



Among the more significant observations of the study were the 

 following: (a) The food/population problem cannot be separated 

 from the total process of development — development is a seamless 

 web. (b) The growth of world population is outpacing food production,- 

 and available techniques have not been apphed sufficiently to achieve 

 increased production and more efl&cient marketing of agricultural 

 produce on the one hand, or slow down the rate of population increase 

 on the other, (c) The achievement of a global balance of food and 

 population will require improvements in political, economic, social, 

 and diplomatic organization and management, (d) The devising of 

 programs to deal with both sides of the food/population balance is 

 a matter of great urgency, (e) If economic development becomes a 

 kind of treadmill, with gains in development nullified by gains in 

 population, the United States will have spent many billions of dollars 

 to no lasting purpose. In such a case U.S. foreign aid is likely to be 

 terminated, and the task of U.S. diplomacy in the underdeveloped 

 world is likely to become far more difficult than it aheady is. (f) A 

 solution of the food/population issue, while not guaranteeing the 

 success of U.S. and other development assistance programs, will 

 presumably permit the assignment of additional resources to other 

 phases of development now receiving less attention, (g) The problem 

 of the food/people equation is so complex that its solution is bound to 

 be piecemeal and incremental, and to contain a fair amount of trial 

 and error, (h) Regardless of the total cost of coping with the rapid 

 increase in world population, it is important that every success be as 

 visible as possible. If expenditures for family planning and population 

 control activities show no results, it is unlikely that support for this 

 type of activity can be sustained with Congress and the public. 



