Rising food prices: threat or opportunity?
(please also listen to Prof of Economics, Dr Sangarkar is speaking on food security crisis and its impact in www.fosaac.tv)
At Oxfam, we see how the current food crisis is directly affecting the world's poorest people. But it could force long overdue reform
The great and the good met at Downing Street yesterday to discuss the crisis caused by rising food prices. This step towards coordinated global action is welcome because the impact on poor people is significant.
If you are reading this in the UK, you may well have noticed that food in the supermarkets cost more than it did this time last year, or even six months ago. This is obviously not good news, and for some low-income families here may mean they are struggling more than before. But imagine the impact it is having on some of the poorest people in the world - in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. These people already spend up to 80% of their income of food, and that's just basic rations for survival, not luxuries. This price increase will directly result in people in poor countries going hungry and even dying. Women, children and marginalised people, like temporary farm workers and slum dwellers, are most vulnerable. The Asian Development Bank estimates that 300m people in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan alone could be at risk of starvation due to rising prices.
Prices are going up for a number of reasons. Climate change is causing increasingly erratic weather - bigger floods, and more severe droughts - that is destroying or damaging crops and reducing supply. Higher oil and energy prices are increasing the cost of inputs like fertiliser and also transport costs due to more expensive fuel. Demand for biofuels- energy made from crops like corn and sugar - means that hungry people are competing with hungry cars for the same output. Growing populations in India and China are eating more meat - which requires huge quantities of grain for animal feed. Finally, speculation on commodity markets, encouraged by high prices, is further upping the pressure, In sum, it is a perfect storm of factors that has caused prices to rise to unprecedented levels, over a very short period of time, leading to unrest and suffering across the developing world, and global expressions of concern from many including the UN, US, and World Bank.
The situation is already having a big impact in countries where Oxfam works. In Senegal, for example, Oxfam staff have seen evidence that the usual "lean season" is coming on earlier as a result of price rises. There are lower stocks in the markets where there are usually surpluses at this time of year, and people are eating alternative food and selling their animals already. Pastoralists are buying food earlier than usual and Mauritanian herders are coming over the border in search of pasture. This is having a direct impact on livelihoods, including a reduction in the quality and quantity of meals (lower variety, less use of fish), children being pulled out of school, increased tension between different groups for natural resources, and an increase in banditry.
The current situation clearly presents a big threat to poor people and to agencies like Oxfam who are working to help them, but it may also be an opportunity. Governments need to act now. Developed countries need to give more money to tide poor countries over the current period and reduce the immediate shock. (See call for funds by WFP.) But longer-term interventions are also important. Greater investment in agriculture, focused on small farmers and women, so that they are in a position to benefit from higher prices, is urgently needed. An end to the headlong rush towards more biofuels, which is having a negative impact on poor people and the environment and contributing to price rises, while at the same time having anat-best unprovenimpact on emissions (see George Monbiot's piece on this site and Oxfam's recent work). Finally, we need reform of rich countries' food aid polices. At the moment, much aid is sent in kind, from miles away and takes too long to arrive: it is often better to buy food locally or to give people cash. The current crisis could force reforms that are long overdue.
National governments in poor countries also have to do their bit - by taking action and changing policies to ensure that the most vulnerable people in their populations do not suffer. In the long term, better and bigger investments in agriculture and in infrastructure like roads, regional markets and ports that will enable small-scale or remote producers to participate in trade and improve their lives. Trade rules that impose rapid liberalisation and deregulation can leave countries exposed to shocks and deprive them of the policy tools to respond to threats (as argued by Raj Patel on Cif earlier this week). The EU's economic partnership agreements, negotiated with a heavy hand last year, are an example of these. They are meant to be finalised this year and poor countries should be wary of confirming signatures to some of the proposals, especially in the light of current market conditions.
Meanwhile, Oxfam and other agencies need to be prepared to adjust their ways of working to the new conditions too. Oxfam is already employing a broad range of tools in our humanitarian response, adapted to local conditions. These include giving out cash vouchers, and helping people to destock in times of drought. We are also doing more work on disaster preparedness - trying to foresee crises before they occur, and take steps to mitigate risk, and improve readiness. We are campaigning on climate change and rights in crisis - calling on governments to change policies that will make the current situation worse. And we are working with others - academics, NGOs, politicians, partners - to see what we need to do together as the situation evolves. It is vital that we respond to this threat, and do our best, jointly, to turn it into an opportunity.
From: Fosaac.tv <fosaactv@yahoo.
To: fosaactv@yahoogroup
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 1:58:16 PM
Subject: [fosaactv] Rice price at fresh peak on supply fear
Read more blogs on food crisis in Fosaactv forumhttp://groups. yahoo.com/ group/fosaactv/ message/65 http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/fosaactv/ message/86 http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/fosaactv/ message/63 http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/fosaactv/ message/87
Also listen to Prof Sangarkar on Fosaactv to understand why this crisis is happening
Rice at fresh peak on supply fear | |
| Rice prices have scaled fresh heights in Asian trade amid concern that export bans by key producers will hit supply. Rough rice for July delivery touched $24.745 per 100lb for the first time, before falling slightly. Curbs are in place in India and Vietnam to protect domestic supply and there are fears that Thailand, the world's largest producer, could follow suit. The global food crisis is a "silent tsunami" with an extra 100 million people facing poverty, the UN said. undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined "This is the new face of hunger - the millions of people who were not in the urgent hunger category six months ago, but now are," said the head of the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP), Josette Sheeran. Perfect storm The international price of rice - a staple food for half the world - has risen about 68% since the beginning of the year. The prices of soybeans, corn and wheat have also been marching higher and are currently near their all-time peaks. A combination of high fuel costs, bad weather and land allocated to biofuels is constraining food supply. At the same time, producer countries are seeking to conserve food for their own people by curtailing exports. But Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said Thailand would continue to be known as the "world's kitchen", as the government considers using abandoned government land to increase agricultural output. Thailand's Office of Agriculture Economics projected that rice production after milling would be 20.4 million tonnes from this year's crop, with 55% for domestic consumption and the remainder for export. Thailand produced 19.6 million tonnes last year. undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined | |
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