On hunger and public action

This article is a commentary on a new book"Hunger and Public Action,"by authors Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen. The article compares the book's conceptual approach and policy recommendations to those of other recent writings on poverty and hunger. Researchers trying to understand the causes of a particular famine or to anticipate future famines have usually concentrated on information about aggregate food availability. A better approach is to focus on the determinants of individual entitlements - the command of people over food and other necessities. Ravallion critically assesses the book's conceptual framework, data, and the methods of analysis. He concludes that, despite some shortcomings in the book, the authors make a convincing case for a positive role for public action in famine relief and longer term relief of poverty and hunger.