In modern Russian African studies, there are not so many comprehensive works on food issues. One of them can be considered the recently published collective monograph of the staff of the IAfr RAS " Africa in the context of global food security "(Moscow, IAfr RAS, 2015, 288 p). It reveals the place of Africa among the regions of the world in terms of the level of food supply to the population and the state of food security in African countries. The publication combines articles by historians, geographers and economists, which allowed the authors ' team to show the subject of research in a wide range of problems.

The monograph is particularly relevant because, while the number of people suffering from malnutrition and hunger in the world is generally decreasing, their number is increasing in Africa: it has already reached 220 million people! In other words, the food situation on the African continent is one of the most acute international problems.

The general semantic structure of the book is based on several logical premises. First of all, the growing threat to the food security of African countries is highlighted. The UN Millennium Declaration, which declared the elimination of absolute poverty in the peripheral countries of the world to be the first and main goal, is a priority guideline here.

Although the number of poor people worldwide is decreasing, in Africa this process affects only the northern part of the continent. Meanwhile, the vast and resource-rich territory of sub-Saharan Africa is gradually becoming the "hunger pole" of the entire planet. Note that this trend, unfortunately, is consistent with the thesis about the "sustainability of backwardness" in African countries, as Claude Ake, a professor at the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria, stated several decades ago (see: Ake K. Political Economy of Africa, Moscow, Progress, 1985, p. 92).

The first of the three sections of the monograph contains a detailed analysis of the economic and social factors associated with ensuring food security in Africa. Special attention is paid to projects and plans to strengthen agriculture, investment in this sector of the economy, as well as the problem of women's labor specific to the African agricultural sector - "gender discrimination".

The second section includes materials containing characteristics of natural agricultural potential and labor resources. The issues of their effective use for ensuring food security are highlighted. A detailed regional analysis of the food situation on the continent is presented.

The third section focuses on international assistance to Africa in ensuring its food security. It provides detailed information on the organization of such cooperation and practical activities carried out by the BRICS countries and individual EU States in addressing the African food problem.

A distinctive feature of this collective work is a balanced combination of empirical data reflecting current African reality and materials from world conferences, global summits, regional assemblies, declarations, goals, development concepts and "agendas" for countries and associations. Therefore, as a result, the content of the monograph is perceived as facts of knowledge of the subject under study.

As for the contexts of the book, they are, in our opinion, related to the deep nature of the category "hunger". About 24,000 people die every day on the planet from hunger and diseases caused by it. Three-quarters of them are children under the age of 5! Therefore, the goal of World Food Security is to eliminate the concept of hunger on Earth.

The causes of famine in modern conditions are rooted not in natural accidents, but in fluctuations in economic mechanisms, in imperfect social relations, and often in political prejudices. Therefore, the solution of the issue of food security at present depends not on auxiliary natural circumstances, but on the strength of the world community and a conscious person capable of creative and humanitarian activities. Perhaps the best way to solve this problem is to ensure sustainable development of society and improve the level of education of people. It is easier for an educated person to break out of the grip of poverty and hunger, change their lives and help others.

So, the main goal of scientific, semantic and stylistic search of the authors of this monograph is to achieve comprehensive and extreme objectivity. The goal is difficult, but it seems to have been achieved. This is proved by the high degree of information, knowledge and value saturation of the monograph text, as well as possible reader contextual reflection and empathy.

V. D. SUKHORUKOV, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Professor, Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University, Saint Petersburg

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