Global food crises hurting poorer countries most
Surya B. Prasai
May 26, 2008
Recently David Igantius and Fareed Zakaria, two well known American media editors with Washington Post-Newsweek group posted a global blog question recently "Food riots have broken out in Egypt, Indonesia, Cameroon, Peru and, most recently, Haiti. What impact do you see the food-price explosion having on the world or your region, politically and economically?" What can be done about it? While answers might vary based on where one comes from, what staple food is consumed and the size and location of the country versus its population density, there is little doubt, that the increase in food prices has created a direct effect on its distribution and availability to the worldīs poorer developing countries and its teeming hungry population, according to various UN agency reports.
Recently, the world has seen skyrocketing food prices due to rising gas prices where a barrel of oil has crossed the US$ 200 marker for the first time. Transportation costs have increased but more so the skyrocketing food prices which seem to have gone much higher triggering riots and new food shortages in the global economy. The poor countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America are facing the brunt of the problems. The Food and Agricultural Organization recently blamed it all on global stockpiling, lack of efficient agricultural techniques, and use of rice and other grain production for alternate energy fuel production as three of the major culprits for the global deficit. But a building argument that has cropped up among experts is that food shortages punish poorer nations and their people the most, when people in South or Southeast Asia are unable to procure rice or other grain supplies at the normal price, they will buy less, which means lesser dietary intake and poorer health among the developing countries populations which can trigger hazardous living and create further underdevelopment.
Three weeks ago, countries such as the Philippines and Bangladesh which are surplus rice producers were unable to buy rice from abroad to secure food for their people because there was none available. In most of Asia, rice continues being the major staple diet. This has also led to discussions on the eventual need to have a rice cartel to offset the OPEC oil cartel, whereby rice supplies and pricing would be proportionately tallied against rising oil prices. The price of rice and other grain such as wheat have reached record highs in the past, doubling if not tripling in a year. Experts argue that the major factors that are pushing up prices include bad weather patterns, unpredictable weather conditions due to global warming, over stocking by some of the countries, its use as bio-fuel by other industrialized economies, lack of proper investment in agriculture, and a higher demand for alternate energy supply which also must be factored in with the growing population needs of India and China, both great rice eaters.
The result has been increasing riots across developing countries, and the absence of trust in the current market mechanism. The Food and Agriculture Organization has had to confront a deficit of US$ 500 million, and many critics have even blamed it for not being able to monitor and stabilize prices or keep enough supplies in regional government stocks. A food line in Africa or Asia these days is becoming a common sight. Global food prices have risen since 2000 with a 50 percent jump in the last nine months. The poorest countries, have been facing the problem most, nearly thirty seven countries, of which 21 are in Africa, are in a food security crisis, according to FAO. Additionally, the World Bank has announced, current food scarcity could push 100 million people of the worldīs poorest into deeper poverty, undoing years of progress in the fight against global poverty and hunger. In many of these countries, the poorer households spend between 60 percent to 80 percent of their income on food, compared to only 10 percent to 20 percent in industrialized countries.
Is there a way out to the crises? Despite some record breaking global harvest, in the past seven years, global cereal and rice production was below the current consumption level, which keeps on increasing. It has created depletion of world grain stocks—a useful proxy for global food security—which are now at their lowest levels in 25 years. Some of the immediate solutions would be checking the current food price spikes by purchasing locally or regionally, developing inter-country barter systems, maintain the oil price tone that can help agriculture producers supply products at lower prices, check the diversion of crops in biofuels production, take account of the adverse weather conditions such as the recent Australian drought, improvise market information sharing and integrate food price information sharing. Governments could help immensely by reducing taxes and lifting export bans which have exacerbated the problem.
The UNīs FAO forecast that states that developing countries will face the brunt of problems due to the rising food prices, still believes there will be a 2.6 percent rise in cereal production in 2008 which would result in a record harvest of two billion metric tone. But if the current trend continues, prices could remain high for another half decade from now, which could create more vulnerability for the global poor. It could mean more civil wars and strife in the absence of food to propel national economic progress. One should also note the inter-linkages whereby the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that mere three degrees celcius in warming could decrease drastically the agriculture yield of 40 developing countries.
Recently, the world has seen skyrocketing food prices due to rising gas prices where a barrel of oil has crossed the US$ 200 marker for the first time. Transportation costs have increased but more so the skyrocketing food prices which seem to have gone much higher triggering riots and new food shortages in the global economy. The poor countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America are facing the brunt of the problems. The Food and Agricultural Organization recently blamed it all on global stockpiling, lack of efficient agricultural techniques, and use of rice and other grain production for alternate energy fuel production as three of the major culprits for the global deficit. But a building argument that has cropped up among experts is that food shortages punish poorer nations and their people the most, when people in South or Southeast Asia are unable to procure rice or other grain supplies at the normal price, they will buy less, which means lesser dietary intake and poorer health among the developing countries populations which can trigger hazardous living and create further underdevelopment.
Three weeks ago, countries such as the Philippines and Bangladesh which are surplus rice producers were unable to buy rice from abroad to secure food for their people because there was none available. In most of Asia, rice continues being the major staple diet. This has also led to discussions on the eventual need to have a rice cartel to offset the OPEC oil cartel, whereby rice supplies and pricing would be proportionately tallied against rising oil prices. The price of rice and other grain such as wheat have reached record highs in the past, doubling if not tripling in a year. Experts argue that the major factors that are pushing up prices include bad weather patterns, unpredictable weather conditions due to global warming, over stocking by some of the countries, its use as bio-fuel by other industrialized economies, lack of proper investment in agriculture, and a higher demand for alternate energy supply which also must be factored in with the growing population needs of India and China, both great rice eaters.
The result has been increasing riots across developing countries, and the absence of trust in the current market mechanism. The Food and Agriculture Organization has had to confront a deficit of US$ 500 million, and many critics have even blamed it for not being able to monitor and stabilize prices or keep enough supplies in regional government stocks. A food line in Africa or Asia these days is becoming a common sight. Global food prices have risen since 2000 with a 50 percent jump in the last nine months. The poorest countries, have been facing the problem most, nearly thirty seven countries, of which 21 are in Africa, are in a food security crisis, according to FAO. Additionally, the World Bank has announced, current food scarcity could push 100 million people of the worldīs poorest into deeper poverty, undoing years of progress in the fight against global poverty and hunger. In many of these countries, the poorer households spend between 60 percent to 80 percent of their income on food, compared to only 10 percent to 20 percent in industrialized countries.
Is there a way out to the crises? Despite some record breaking global harvest, in the past seven years, global cereal and rice production was below the current consumption level, which keeps on increasing. It has created depletion of world grain stocks—a useful proxy for global food security—which are now at their lowest levels in 25 years. Some of the immediate solutions would be checking the current food price spikes by purchasing locally or regionally, developing inter-country barter systems, maintain the oil price tone that can help agriculture producers supply products at lower prices, check the diversion of crops in biofuels production, take account of the adverse weather conditions such as the recent Australian drought, improvise market information sharing and integrate food price information sharing. Governments could help immensely by reducing taxes and lifting export bans which have exacerbated the problem.
The UNīs FAO forecast that states that developing countries will face the brunt of problems due to the rising food prices, still believes there will be a 2.6 percent rise in cereal production in 2008 which would result in a record harvest of two billion metric tone. But if the current trend continues, prices could remain high for another half decade from now, which could create more vulnerability for the global poor. It could mean more civil wars and strife in the absence of food to propel national economic progress. One should also note the inter-linkages whereby the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that mere three degrees celcius in warming could decrease drastically the agriculture yield of 40 developing countries.
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