Despite a globalfood surplus, almost half of the world's less developed countries suffer significant problems concerning food. Most social science and policy discussions offood security make the "food availability" assumption that increased food supply is the key to reducing hunger. Critics argue, however, that increased food supply has little impact on hunger and that the primary culprits are entrenched inequality and militarism. A lagged panel analysis offood supply and child hunger rates (1970-1990) shows that the food supply has only modest effects on child hunger rates and that food supply is structurally rooted in development processes (domestic investment, urban bias, foreign capital penetration) while child hunger is politically based in arms imports, internal violence and political democratization. Population pressure, tapped by increased age dependency, undermines both the supply offood and the population's access to it, and cultural dualism magnifies the effects of population pressure on child hunger. The effects of economic growth "trickle down" to affect both food supply and child hunger, and economic growth is also positively correlated with political democratization, suggesting there is no short-term "trade-off" between growth, democratization, and social equity. OOD IS THE MOST basic of human needs and is central to the discussion of human rights and social development (Brandt 1986; Dreze, Sen, and Hussain 1995; Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations [FAO] 1996a; Kutzner 1991). Despite the "green revolution" and the significant growth in international food aid and assistance, between 1970 and 1990 almost half of the world's less developed countries

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This article examines child well-being in less industrialized societies through a gender and development perspective. Using a quantitative, cross-national analysis of data from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) among other sources, I find that child HIV/AIDS infections and adult female prevalence of the disease increase child mortality while female empowerment and gender equality decrease its prevalence. In addition, an interaction between female empowerment and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the adult population also reduces child mortality, revealing the significance of gender for where the disease is more concentrated. Findings are net of controls for economic development, population pressure, democratization, economic globalization, child health, child hunger, and region. The global realities of HIV/AIDS reveal the need for increasingly undertaking cross-national analysis of the disease and issues of gender, development, and women's contributions to human security.

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Discussions of world hunger have focused on economic growth and international food aid, assuming that food supply is the critical issue. The authors show that food access rooted in social stratification and military power is the central problem. Synthesizing the entitlement and military famine approaches to hunger, the authors examine the effects of food supply, economic growth, social stratification, and military power on child hunger in less developed countries (1990-2000) using a cross-national analysis. Child hunger is largely due to gender stratification, militarization, and armed conflict. Halting wars, expanding political rights, and improving gender equity reduce child hunger. Economic growth and programmatic international food aid reduce child hunger, but there are no benefits from increased total food supply or international emergency relief. Child hunger is an access problem best addressed by expanding social and political rights, reducing armed conflict and militarization, and improving women's status. Early warning and relief efforts should focus on these concerns instead of the ``supply'' concerns traditionally emphasized.