There is considerable disagreement between Government, Donors and NGOs as to which of the approaches will ensure short and long term food security. However, Deveraux concludes poor households must increasingly diversify their sources of both food and income. In the long run, sustainable household food security can be guaranteed only if additional livelihoods are found to provide adequate and reliable off-farm incomes for Malawi's marginal smallholders. Over emphasis on cash crops would be a disaster nationally but the appropriate level of support could generate income at the local level. There is no doubt, however, that agriculture and rural development should be combined to alleviate food insecurity.
Wider recognition is needed of the key role which rural programmes play in overall development.
Poverty is now considered of crucial importance in food security. Lastly, the size and content of research in food security is inadequate and it is very difficult to involve developing country scientists in such work. It is felt that the food security issue will not disappear as a problem, it just seems to change emphasis over the years. It is important that food security does not fall off the agenda and the capacity for research and action does not atrophy. It is, however, necessary to integrate the natural and social sciences in these efforts and the National Academies should play a crucial role here.