In the decade since the World Food Conference of 1974, increased attention has been directed to the problems of world food security. The emphasis on technologies of production, while important, have not sufficed. Two major shortcomings of the World Food Conference and the efforts it stimulated were (1) the failure to recognize the relationship between poverty and food insecurity and (2) the failure to view national and household food problems within a larger framework of food systems. The harsh realities of this situation are that there are governments in some developing countries that are corrupt or incompetent and place a higher priority on political security than food security. Moreover, some developing countries lack the natural or human resources to develop and sustain economies in which most of the populace will have income adequate for purchasing adequate food. Finally, food aid cannot sustain the kind of activities which will alter the effects of pervasive poverty. On the positive side, a number of factors show promise for improving food security. These are the fact that there are enough resources in the world to feed its people, public programs can help subsistence farmers, and with current knowledge it is possible to devise national food sector strategies. (LP)