Prospects for global food security: a critical appraisal of past projections and predictions

During the last half century, a number of individuals and institutions, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and IFPRI, have engaged in projections of future food demand, supply, and related variables. In this brief, Alex McCalla and Cesar Revoredo compare proj...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: McCalla, Alex F., Revoredo, Cesar L.
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2001
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/156365
_version_ 1855532495898935296
author McCalla, Alex F.
Revoredo, Cesar L.
author_browse McCalla, Alex F.
Revoredo, Cesar L.
author_facet McCalla, Alex F.
Revoredo, Cesar L.
author_sort McCalla, Alex F.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description During the last half century, a number of individuals and institutions, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and IFPRI, have engaged in projections of future food demand, supply, and related variables. In this brief, Alex McCalla and Cesar Revoredo compare projections with real-life outcomes. Projections forecast outcomes on the basis of certain underlying factors. If such forecasted outcomes are undesirable, changes may be made in the underlying factors so that the projections may not, in fact, come to pass. Many projections serve this precise goal. Therefore, the success of projections may not be that they match actual outcomes but that they avoid such outcomes by promoting action to change underlying variables. Unlike predictions, which are successful only if they match actual outcomes, projections that differ from actual outcomes may reflect either poor projection models or changes in underlying variables, possibly caused by the projections themselves.
format Artículo preliminar
id CGSpace156365
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2001
publishDateRange 2001
publishDateSort 2001
publisher International Food Policy Research Institute
publisherStr International Food Policy Research Institute
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1563652025-04-08T18:26:39Z Prospects for global food security: a critical appraisal of past projections and predictions McCalla, Alex F. Revoredo, Cesar L. food consumption food security During the last half century, a number of individuals and institutions, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and IFPRI, have engaged in projections of future food demand, supply, and related variables. In this brief, Alex McCalla and Cesar Revoredo compare projections with real-life outcomes. Projections forecast outcomes on the basis of certain underlying factors. If such forecasted outcomes are undesirable, changes may be made in the underlying factors so that the projections may not, in fact, come to pass. Many projections serve this precise goal. Therefore, the success of projections may not be that they match actual outcomes but that they avoid such outcomes by promoting action to change underlying variables. Unlike predictions, which are successful only if they match actual outcomes, projections that differ from actual outcomes may reflect either poor projection models or changes in underlying variables, possibly caused by the projections themselves. 2001 2024-10-24T12:43:55Z 2024-10-24T12:43:55Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/156365 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute McCalla, Alex F.; Revoredo, Cesar L. 2001. Prospects for global food security: a critical appraisal of past projections and predictions. Food, agriculture, and the environment Discussion Paper; 2020 Discussion Paper 35. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/156365
spellingShingle food consumption
food security
McCalla, Alex F.
Revoredo, Cesar L.
Prospects for global food security: a critical appraisal of past projections and predictions
title Prospects for global food security: a critical appraisal of past projections and predictions
title_full Prospects for global food security: a critical appraisal of past projections and predictions
title_fullStr Prospects for global food security: a critical appraisal of past projections and predictions
title_full_unstemmed Prospects for global food security: a critical appraisal of past projections and predictions
title_short Prospects for global food security: a critical appraisal of past projections and predictions
title_sort prospects for global food security a critical appraisal of past projections and predictions
topic food consumption
food security
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/156365
work_keys_str_mv AT mccallaalexf prospectsforglobalfoodsecurityacriticalappraisalofpastprojectionsandpredictions
AT revoredocesarl prospectsforglobalfoodsecurityacriticalappraisalofpastprojectionsandpredictions