Chapter 3


 However, markets are only one type of institution which governs economic activity in a
 country. Other institutional arrangements can be important in governing economic activity
 as it relates to food security. (The term institution, or institutional arrangement is used to
 indicate the various rules and regulations which determine what is acceptable in custom, or
 legal, the "rules of the game".) Governments may intervene to prevent certain kinds of
 exchanges, or to enable others, because of some notion of over-riding human rights. For
 example, in some countries, it is illegal for a household to indenture their children,
 regardless of how hungry they are. In many developed countries, the state provides certain
 minimum benefits to the eligible poor because it is felt unacceptable that a wealthy country
 should not protect its citizens from dying from hunger in the street. Not all activity takes
 place in response to financial rewards and incentives. In many countries, particularly in rural
 areas, people join together to undertake activities either which will benefit them all
 collectively, or because it is seen as culturally or morally important that these activities are
 undertaken.

 Governments are particularly likely to intervene in food markets in various ways, to improve
 food security for poorer sections of the population. This is often justified in terms of the
 need to provide a safety net in society or for the sake of common humanity. In many cases it
 also appears that the popularity and even the legitimacy of the government is based on its
 ability to deliver stable supplies of cheap food to the population, of the cities in particular.

 It is not uncommon for countries to overrule large sections of the food market in times of
 crisis in national security. During World War II, the British government instituted a system
 of rationing for almost all the basic food commodities, and made it illegal to trade these
 commodities outwith the rationing system. This was to ensure equal access of all the
 population, regardless of wealth, to the limited quantities of food available. For similar
 reasons, Cuba's population were subject to a food rationing system during the 1970s and
 1980s. Up until the late 1970s, most of the Sri Lankan population were entitled to a weekly
 rice ration.

These are perhaps extreme examples, but many countries have developed less
 comprehensive programmes which improve the access of the poor to food, whether for moral
 or political reasons. In some countries this has taken the form of subsidising the basic
 foodstuff. The price of bread in Egypt was almost constant for a long period in the 1960s
 and 1970s. In other countries the poor are entitled to participate in specific targeted
 programmes, such as the food stamp programme in the USA. In yet other countries, the
 social safety net is not specifically linked to food commodities, but some kind of income
 support increases the food entitlements of the poor. Any assessment of food security has to
 include these state institutions in addition to those of the market.

 A third type of institution which is often overlooked is that related to.collective action. This
 term includes those activities where members of a community organise themselves to
 undertake economic activity, or organise the delivery of a service, or manage a communal
 resource. These can be of particular importance in societies which are not fully integrated
 into the monetary economy, or where traditional customs are still an important element of
 daily life. However, collective activity can also play an important role in modem societies.
 Many voluntary organizations and community based organizations in Western societies rely


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