Demand management of Asian and Near East food systems : an introductory overview

A simple food accounting identity is presented to illustrate that the answer to this question depends upon the relative importance of conflicting policy objectives and the policy instruments which are employed to channel food system resources toward competing ends. The paper presents a quantitative analysis of structural forces impacting food demand in South and Southeast Asia and in the Near East. The relative importance of these forces varies among countries and between periods as do the policy interventions which attempt to modify the impact of these forces. The food accounting identity and the analysis of structural aspects of food demand are placed in a conventional supply and demand setting to clarify the role of price policy. The answer to the question posed at the beginning of the paper cannot be determined by casual assumptions about economic "closure rules," a common feature of many studies. The demand management framework, which calls attention to the interface between structural forces, competing objectives, scarce resources, and pricing policy, can be used to guide investigation of food system behavior and as a basis for anticipating the future impact of structural forces and possible policy responses. Although there are important structural features which seem to be common among the countries studied here, only country specific case studies can translate these features into an effective understanding of how food systems develop, including an answer to the question, "What did countries do with their Green Revolutions production increment?" (Author abstract)