The Food Crisis Continued
While we all hoped that the worst of the food crisis was over, it looks like food prices are again on the rise — imperiling the health of maybe a billion people.
The credit freeze has left many of the world's farmers unable to secure loans for seeds, fertilizer and equipment. Some farmers are simply not planting crops or resorting to private creditors charging usurious rates of interest.
Even though food prices have declined since their peak in 2008, world grain prices are still 27 percent higher than in 2005, according to the director general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, and are likely to climb.
“It's possible the tally of undernourished people in the world will surpass one billion, from 963 million in 2007, as the full brunt of higher food prices filters through,” the director general, Jacques Diouf, told reporters at a biennial UN food-policy conference in Bangkok.
While some countries are setting aside funds for agricultural investment, many food-policy specialists worry that the money isn't enough to make up for the loss of private-sector credit.
This is why the UN World Food Program is calling on G-20 leaders to commit funding to fight hunger at their meeting in London this week.
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Recently, NPR also did a
Recently, NPR also did a great story on the >plight of poor farmers, highlighting the successes of .
Thus, despite concerns about the financial challenges for farmers all over the world, it is also important not to jump at whatever funding is made available. There have been positive signs of increased attention given to sustainable agriculture, to aid that supports agriculture versus just food aid, and in general to the issues of chronic hunger and agriculture among governments and corporations alike (the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa for example) Yet, I think it is important to be critical about what scientists and policymakers mean when they talk about a second green revolution, seeing how despite the important increased yields that resulted at first, Indian farmers are resisting the promotion of genetically modified crops by those same companies that offered solutions through scientific revolution forty years ago.
Some organizations are concerned about Congress’ newest Global Food Security Bill, which “creates a federal mandate for genetically modified crop research as part of U.S. foreign aid programs” (See Food First’s policy brief) rather than looking at promoting homegrown solutions more in touch with local environmental conditions and nutritional needs.
Meanwhile, one of the farmers in the NPR story expressed his steady commitment to organic despite the lack of immediately impressive yields: "I've been farming organically only for four years now. My land is still recovering from the Green Revolution. So I'm sure my yields will increase. ... Imagine how much organic farmers might be able to produce if India's government spent even a fraction of the billions of dollars it has spent promoting chemical farming.”
Overall, it seems to me that investing in forms of agriculture that no longer require farmers to buy expensive seeds or amounts of fertilizer and pesticides that increase every year due to declining soil fertility or insect adaptation should be a priority among those looking to sustainably fight poverty and hunger at the same time.
World Food Prices Stabilize, but Remain High
A recent article by Reuters reported that high food prices around the world have stabilized, although the United Nations predicts that prices will not return to the lower levels seen previously in 2008--especially in developing nations.
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