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 one-third of the stock and the industrial world, two-thirds. More than half the developing-country stock is in two countries – China and India. Stock levels in most of the others provide only for immediate operational requirements; there is little by way of a reserve.

103. The food stocks of industrialized countries are essentially surpluses, and provide a basis for emergency assistance, which must be maintained. But emergency food aid is a precarious basis for food security: developing countries should build up national stocks in surplus years to provide reserves as well as encouraging development of food security at the household level. To do this, they will need an effective system of public support for measures facilitating the purchase, transportation, and distribution of food. The provision of strategically located storage facilities is critical both to reduce post-harvest losses and to provide a base for quick interventions in emergencies.

104. During most food shortages, poor households not only cannot produce food but also lose their usual sources of income and cannot buy the food that is available. Hence food security also requires that machinery is available promptly to put purchasing power in the hands of disaster-struck households, through emergency public works programme, and through measures to protect small farmers from crop failures. {{c|1=

V. FOOD FOR THE FUTURE
}} 105. The challenge of increasing food production to keep pace with demand, while retaining the essential ecological integrity /…