Mariama Zachary and Akua Azaiz tend to cocoa beans on a drying table in Ghana. Photo: Gates Foundation (flickr)

Food prices are exceeding record highs—prompting policymakers worldwide to take action. A recent meeting of the G-20 agriculture ministers has given reason for hope, but many obstacles to less expensive food remain.

According to the BBC, 44 million people were driven into poverty last year by food price volatility — increasing the risk of conflict and adding to human suffering. Rising food prices also threaten to derail the fragile global economy, acting like an extra tax on consumers, says World Bank head, Robert Zoellick.

"We have been in a period of extraordinary volatility in food prices, which poses a real danger of irreparable harm to the most vulnerable nations and people. High, uncertain and volatile food prices are the single gravest threat facing the most vulnerable in the developing world."

The severity of the crisis has prompted the G-20 and the World Bank to push forward a number of non-contentious initiatives, three of the most important being:

• To reduce the impact of food price variability through loans . Called Agriculture Price Risk Management, the idea is to reduce farmer risk and thereby increase production of staple crops like wheat, rice, corn, and soybeans.
• To reduce food price volatility via information sharing. Known as the Agricultural Market Information System, according to The Wall Street Journal, this initiative encourages collaboration among nations to mitigate the affects of panic buying and export bans (among others), which often exacerbate a food crisis. Click here to observe food price fluctuations around the world.
• Eliminating export restrictions for food aid programs. The G-20 agricultural ministers agreed to abandon export restrictions on food aid bought by the World Food Program, states The Wall Street Journal.

Despite these promising developments, the most contentious issues will be left to future meetings. Of these, three of the most important are:

• The restriction of bio-fuel production. Food production advocates want subsidies eliminated for grains grown for fuel, says the Christian Science Monitor. However, the delegates were unable to reach consensus on reducing farm subsidies for biofuel production.
• Increased regulation of commodity speculators. Derivatives markets played a major role in causing the recent recession, and policymakers around the developed world are passing legislation to mitigate their harmful impact (including on food prices). Policymakers are stepping lightly, afraid over-regulation could stifle production.
• Creation of an African food bank. According to The Christian Science Monitor, member African nations (and international backers) would build up a continental food reserve which could be tapped into when a supply shortage occurs. The risk of underfunding and the politics behind "who pays for what" could prove fatal to this proposal.

Of course, imbalances in population growth and food supply is a major problem too, but that's another story. In general, the G-20 and World Bank's increased focus on food prices has been well-received. "People are hungry for food and for action on a global level," says Robert Zoellick, according to the BBC.

The G-20 is meeting this week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Chaired by President Barack Obama, the purpose of the summit is to, “review the progress made since the Washington and London Summits and discuss further actions to assure a sound and sustainable recovery from the global financial and economic crisis.” I’ve heard of the G-8, but the G-20? I began to wonder about this alphanumeric soup of organizations. Who are they and what are they concerned with? The following scorecard should help interested followers of this subject keep track of the major players.

The G-6: Organized in 1975 by the finance ministers of Germany and France who were frustrated with the formality and structure of larger international meetings, the G-6 and subsequent evolutions of this body are strictly informal bodies that meet to discuss economic issues of mutual interest. After the creation of the G-8, the term G-6 is now used to refer to the six most populous members of the European Union. The member countries are: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan

The G-7: Formed in 1976, this is an informal forum for the finance members of seven big industrial economies to discuss economic issues and seek agreement. Member countries include: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States. Now also includes the European Union.

The G-8: An evolution of the G-7, membership grew to include Russia. The European Union is a limited member; it cannot host a meeting or hold the presidency of the body. Members are: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, Russia. European Union (limited member)

The G-8 plus Five: Recognizing the growing influence of other countries, the original group sometimes broadens their meetings by including the Outreach Five. As with all meetings, other countries are sometimes invited to attend. Members: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, Russia. European Union (limited member) Plus: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa.

The G-20: According to their website, “[t]he G-20 was created as a response both to the financial crises of the late 1990s and a growing recognition that key emerging-market countries were not adequately included in the core of global economic discussion and governance.” Where the earlier groups (G-6 through G-8) were organized around the industrialized countries of the world, the G-20 begins to bring emerging economies into the dialog. Their first meeting was in Berlin, Germany. The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the President of the World Bank, plus the chairs of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and Development Committee of the IMF and World Bank, also participate in G-20 meetings on an ex-officio basis.

The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, European Central Bank

The G-33: The name for a group of developing countries that coordinates on trade and economic issues. It was created in order to help group countries which were all facing similar problems and give a unified voice to countries that were traditionally excluded from discussions among the industrialized countries. Members: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Botswana, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Laos, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Senegal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

There are other groups variously labeled as G-8, G-20, G-33, and even N-11 (countries which Goldman Sachs considered in 2005 to have a high potential of becoming the world’s largest economies this century: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam).

One of the best, reliable, sources of information about these groups and their members may be found on the websites of the World Trade Organization and the previously mentioned G-20.

You can Track the ongoing discussions of the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit here. But be prepared for slow page loading. It is a very busy website.

A rice farmer in Indonesia. Photo: David Snyder for Mercy Corps

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.