The extent of food aid since the 1960s is examined, focusing in particular on US food aid and its political context. The dimensions of food aid in the future are calculated, taking into account the effects of the Uruguay Round of Trade negotiations, the impact of new US agricultural legislation, and the prospects for improved implementation of food programmes. A series of political, economic and technical constraints will prevent large-scale changes in food aid in the future. A total food aid transfer of 10 million t per annum is the most likey forecast for the 1990s.

Lack of consensus among researchers in Indonesia concerning real wage trends in rice production has generated disagreement over rural labour market conditions on Java. This paper identifies some empirical difficulties associated with measuring real wages, difficulties which have contributed to conflicting results in the literature. It is argued that the choice of deflator and the time period of analysis play a significant role in the calculation of real wages. In addition, the regional dimension of analysis is shown to be important, particularly during certain discrete time periods in recent history.

This book, based on fieldwork carried out by a team of American and Indonesian economists, investigates Indonesia's potential for maize production. It integrates 3 economic approaches: (1) the commodity systems approach, which traces the technical and market links from input supplier to producer, processor and consumer; (2) the macro-trade approach, which analyses the role of the commodity in generating domestic value-added and foreign exchange; and (3) the food policy approach, which analyses the efficiency of commodity systems and the distribution of their benefits in order to evaluate potential public investments and policy interventions. The conclusion reached is that Indonesia has the potential to expand its maize production by: (1) efficiency in the marketing system and (2) policies encouraging investment in storage and drying facilities.