Operations research as a tool for analysis of food security problems

In the first part of the paper the role of operations research in analyzing daily life problems of farmers in developing countries is discussed. Experiences on village studies in Tanzania are reported which formed part of the training in operations research of students of the University of Dar es Salaam. In the second part, two examples of food security problems are worked out: risk of food shortage in subsistence farming in Tanzania and the use of rainfall-yield models to predict shortages of sorghum production at an early stage of the growing season in Burkina Faso. At the end of the paper, some discussion points are formulated.