This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.This volume, the second of three addressing a wide range of policy issues relating to the role of public action in combating hunger and deprivation in the modern world, deals primarily with famine prevention--paying special attention to sub-Saharan Africa. Topics covered include: the problems of early warning and early action; the influence of market responses; the role of cash support and employment provision in protecting threatened food entitlements, and long-term issues of reduction of famine vulnerability. Taken together, the essays in this study provide a comprehensive and authoritative analysis of famine prevention issues, and an important guide for action. This volume will be of particular interest to developmental and agricultural economists and political economists.