This paper has a few limited objectives. First, I examine the concept of food security and highlight the long and complex linkage between contributions to a high probability of nutritional adequacy for vulnerable populations and trade policy for agricultural commodities. Next, I define an operational index of national food security that may be readily measured and related to agricultural trade policies and the WTO. The third section shows how trade policies relate to the Index of National Food Security (INFS) and assess how limiting access to imports affects the INFS, including conditions under which such policies may contribute positively to food security. Finally, I mention briefly how alternative policies can contribute to food security and may be cost effective relative to access restrictions.
View PDF article here: Agricultural Trade Policy and Food Security by Daniel A. Sumner at the International Association of Agricultural Economists Workshop on Food Security, Berlin, August, 2000.