Debating food and population in the interwar years: A view from the League of Nations

Since Malthus, the relationship between population growth and food availability has been at the centre of the reflection of demographers, economists, agricultural experts and nutrition scientists. It is, however, a relationship that has still not been adequately explained. Based on archival documents and official publications, this essay analyses how the League of Nations interpreted the relationship between food resources and population growth, at a time when demographic issues became a political concern, addressed in many European countries through pro-natalist policies, while advances in social medicine and nutrition science suggested the opportunity to combat hunger and malnutrition of a growing population through increased production and trade liberalization.