Author Description

Behind famine lies the transformation of forests into deserts and fertile earth into barren wasteland. And behind this devastation lies the harsh political reality of poor people forced to destroy nature just to eat, and of governments pursuing western-backed "development" schemes regardless of the environmental and human cost. This revised and updated edition explores the solutions to this vicious circle. Examining the problems, from hunger to debt, that keep the Third World poor, it rejects short-term "development" that destroys the resources on which the poor's livelihood and lasting economic progress depend. Ben Jackson of the World Development Movement calls for marrying ecological protection with meeting the desperate needs of the world's poor.