In my new book that attempts to explain why ending hunger has been so hard, I focus on four main themes: the complex role of markets, the importance of government policies, the historical process of structural transformation, and the need to identify the appropriate time horizon for analysis and interventions. These themes are not new, but integrating them into a coherent approach to ending hunger seems to be original. And it is the integration itself which is difficult, conceptually, politically and operationally. Rich countries have largely managed this integration, and ended widespread hunger, because they have abundant resources for the tasks. Only a few poor countries have managed to end hunger while they were relatively poor, and most of them are in Asia. The lessons from these success stories drive the analysis in the book and are the subject of this essay.

Written by C. Peter Timmer, Center for Global Development