Vol. 46 Nr. 4/2012: Responsible investments in the food chain

Since the 2007/2008 world food price crisis at the latest, the international community has tirelessly reiterated the key role played by the agricultural sector and rural areas in efforts to combat hunger and poverty. The many years of neglect of the sector in international cooperation – and in many of the policies adopted by the affected countries themselves – is now to be remedied as quickly as possible. Large sums have been pledged and, in the best case, have been deployed. But will those for whom they are intended, namely the smallholders and rural poor, profit from all this investment? What shape must investments take in order that they really reach the target group? And which – desired and undesired – side effects are to be expected? Our authors have explored all these questions and more.