The Global Food Crisis
The rise in food prices explained, the impact it is having, and what the future holds.
What’s the problem?
We’ve all noticed rising food prices: we have less change in our pockets after a shopping trip. Imagine how price rises affect you if, like many poor people, you spend 50-80 per cent of your income on food? Wheat and rice are staple foods for many billions of people. Wheat prices are up by 120 per cent, and rice by 75 per cent.
Think differently
From Poverty to Power predicts more food price rises if we don’t act now to combat growing inequality and climate change. Increasing pressure on farmers to grow biofuels is thought to have contributed to around 30 per cent of the price hikes we’ve seen – less food is being grown, and it’s questionable whether most biofuels really help fight climate change. The rising price of fuel, increasing demand from China and India, and population growth are also contributing to the price rises and food scarcity.
Before the new focus on biofuels, there was enough food to go around – but it was shared out unfairly. It’s a real sign of inequality that we live in a world where 400 million people are obese while 800 million are undernourished. The current food crisis looks set to push another 100 million people into hunger.
What needs to happen?
In the short term, the policy on biofuels must urgently be looked at again, and food aid – preferably in the form of cash, not grain shipped from around the world – is desperately needed.
But in the longer term, to prevent continued price rises, there needs to be a more fundamental look at how farming is supported by governments and global trade rules. From Poverty to Power argues that investing in agriculture is one of the best ways for a country to develop – and it’s also one of the best ways of ensuring there’s enough food for everyone. Global trade rules need to allow small farmers in developing countries to see the fruits of their labours, rather than see their prices undercut by rich countries producing too much food at low (often subsidised) prices.
More analysis and debate on this topic on FP2P.org
Oxfam’s response to the Global Food Crisis.
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