Is it possible to feed those who now are hungry in the world in addition to the billions of people who will be born by the end of the century? Or are we headed for an inevitable Malthusian catastrophe because the task is impossible? What can developing countries do to increase agricultural self-reliance? What population dynamics accompany the transition from high birth and death rates in developing countries to low birth and death rates? What research can aid the struggle to provide food to the world's masses? These and other questions are explored by an array of experts who participated in the Congressional Roundtable on World Food and Population during 1979-80. They offer this collection of papers in the spirit of optimism about the future and about the U.S. role in international development.

Foreword -- The Global Problem of Balancing Population and Food -- Introduction -- The Nature of the World Food and Population Problem -- Recent Trends in World Food and Population -- The Worldwide Loss of Cropland -- The Potential Sources of Food -- Introduction -- Using Plants to Meet World Food Needs -- The Contribution of Livestock to the World Protein Supply -- Aquatic Animal Protein Food Resources-Actual and Potential -- The Process of Agricultural Development -- Introduction -- Agriculture in Transition -- Conditions for More Rapid Agricultural Development -- Strategies for Rapid Agricultural Growth -- The Influence of Trade and Investment -- Introduction -- International Trade and Investment Policies That Influence Agricultural and Economic Development -- Implications of the Multilateral Trade Negotiations for Agricultural Trade -- The Consequences for America -- Introduction -- The Impact of International Development on American Agriculture -- Meeting Energy Requirements in the Food System -- World Food and American National Security