Interview with C. Peter Timmer, author of Food Security and Scarcity

In the fall, Penn published a book by C. Peter Timmer, Food Security and Scarcity: Why Ending Hunger Is So Hard. Timmer's book, as the title suggests, examines the challenges facing those who would end the world problem of hunger. You can read more about the book here, but we've got a two-part video interview that Professor Timmer gave as part of the United Nations University's annual WIDER lecture series, which gives insight into his thinking and the conclusions he draws in the book.

The first video deals with questions about what it takes to achieve structural transformation in developing countries, the consequences of failing to do so, and more. Here is the full list of questions:

• 0:10 What is structural transformation?
• 2:16 What happens if structural transformation fails?
• 6:21 What is agricultural transformation?
• 7:27 Can there be a green revolution in Africa?
• 10:15 What is the dietary transformation?

In the second video, Professor Timmer discusses food security and its relationship to structural transformation. The questions:

• 0:10 Why does food insecurity persist?
• 1:10 Who is the better guide on food security; Malthus or Sen?
• 2:23 What insights does behavioural economics have for food security?
• 5:44 Who will feed the cities of the future?
• 8:38 What is the significance of supermarkets?
• 11:08 What is your take on bio-fuels?
• 12:01 How has Asia sought to stabilize food prices?
• 14:10 Is it different in Africa?