D. JOHN SHAW was associated with the UN World Food Programme for over thirty years, almost from the start of its operations in 1963, latterly as Economic Adviser and Chief, Policy Affairs Service. He was also consultant to the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the World Bank. Previously, he was a postgraduate in Agricultural Economics at the University of Oxford, UK, Senior Lecturer in Rural Economy at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, and fellow in Agricultural Economics and founder member of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK. He wrote extensively on development, food security and food aid issues and now serves on the International Editorial Board of the Journal Food Policy.