SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A man looks at food at Khartoum's central food market July 18, 2012. (Credit: Reuters/ Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)
UN Warns of 'Food Crisis' as Prices Continue Surge
Oxfam calls global food system "very sick" following latest numbers
Aug 09, 2012
A sharp increase of food prices on the international market, mostly driven by a surge in grain and sugar prices, has spurred the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to issue a warning that a food crisis similar to the one experience in 2008 could be on the horizon if proper action is not taken.
The FAO Food Price Index climbed 6 percent in July 2012 after three months of previous decline and indicates that the extreme drought ravaging US croplands and a similar failure in India and elsewhere is having a severe impact food costs.
"There is potential for a situation to develop like we had back in 2007/08," the FAO's senior economist and grain analyst Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters.
"There is an expectation that this time around we will not pursue bad policies and intervene in the market by restrictions, and if that doesn't happen we will not see such a serious situation as 2007/08. But if those policies get repeated, anything is possible."
Reuters explains that in 2007/08, a "number of major producers imposed various restrictions on exports in an attempt to control domestic prices" and that export bans, quotas, and higher tariffs on rice, corn and wheat caused market reductions which led to soaring prices.
Aid groups met the new FAO numbers with dismay, but not surprise, calling the FAO index numbers a symptom of a 'very sick' global food system.
"This is not some gentle monthly wake-up call," said Colin Roche, a spokesperson for Oxfam International. "It's the same global alarm that's been screaming at us since 2008. These new figures prove that the world's food system cannot cope on crumbling foundations. The combination of rising prices and expected low reserves means the world is facing a double danger."
Roche warned that without action millions more would join the billion people who are already hungry in the world and said that the agricultural policies of the world's wealthiest nations were as much to blame for the impending crisis as anything.
Members of the G-20, said Roche, must "reverse decades of under-investment into small-holder agriculture. The US and EU must ditch their crazy biofuels programs that turn 40% of US corn, for example, into gas for cars and trucks. We must tackle the causes and effects of climate change that will eventually, without action, overwhelm our food system entirely."
"These price hikes are being driven by more than just a drought in the US corn-belt and problem harvests elsewhere. As bad as they are, our food system should be more resilient than this," Roche said.
# # #
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A sharp increase of food prices on the international market, mostly driven by a surge in grain and sugar prices, has spurred the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to issue a warning that a food crisis similar to the one experience in 2008 could be on the horizon if proper action is not taken.
The FAO Food Price Index climbed 6 percent in July 2012 after three months of previous decline and indicates that the extreme drought ravaging US croplands and a similar failure in India and elsewhere is having a severe impact food costs.
"There is potential for a situation to develop like we had back in 2007/08," the FAO's senior economist and grain analyst Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters.
"There is an expectation that this time around we will not pursue bad policies and intervene in the market by restrictions, and if that doesn't happen we will not see such a serious situation as 2007/08. But if those policies get repeated, anything is possible."
Reuters explains that in 2007/08, a "number of major producers imposed various restrictions on exports in an attempt to control domestic prices" and that export bans, quotas, and higher tariffs on rice, corn and wheat caused market reductions which led to soaring prices.
Aid groups met the new FAO numbers with dismay, but not surprise, calling the FAO index numbers a symptom of a 'very sick' global food system.
"This is not some gentle monthly wake-up call," said Colin Roche, a spokesperson for Oxfam International. "It's the same global alarm that's been screaming at us since 2008. These new figures prove that the world's food system cannot cope on crumbling foundations. The combination of rising prices and expected low reserves means the world is facing a double danger."
Roche warned that without action millions more would join the billion people who are already hungry in the world and said that the agricultural policies of the world's wealthiest nations were as much to blame for the impending crisis as anything.
Members of the G-20, said Roche, must "reverse decades of under-investment into small-holder agriculture. The US and EU must ditch their crazy biofuels programs that turn 40% of US corn, for example, into gas for cars and trucks. We must tackle the causes and effects of climate change that will eventually, without action, overwhelm our food system entirely."
"These price hikes are being driven by more than just a drought in the US corn-belt and problem harvests elsewhere. As bad as they are, our food system should be more resilient than this," Roche said.
# # #
A sharp increase of food prices on the international market, mostly driven by a surge in grain and sugar prices, has spurred the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to issue a warning that a food crisis similar to the one experience in 2008 could be on the horizon if proper action is not taken.
The FAO Food Price Index climbed 6 percent in July 2012 after three months of previous decline and indicates that the extreme drought ravaging US croplands and a similar failure in India and elsewhere is having a severe impact food costs.
"There is potential for a situation to develop like we had back in 2007/08," the FAO's senior economist and grain analyst Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters.
"There is an expectation that this time around we will not pursue bad policies and intervene in the market by restrictions, and if that doesn't happen we will not see such a serious situation as 2007/08. But if those policies get repeated, anything is possible."
Reuters explains that in 2007/08, a "number of major producers imposed various restrictions on exports in an attempt to control domestic prices" and that export bans, quotas, and higher tariffs on rice, corn and wheat caused market reductions which led to soaring prices.
Aid groups met the new FAO numbers with dismay, but not surprise, calling the FAO index numbers a symptom of a 'very sick' global food system.
"This is not some gentle monthly wake-up call," said Colin Roche, a spokesperson for Oxfam International. "It's the same global alarm that's been screaming at us since 2008. These new figures prove that the world's food system cannot cope on crumbling foundations. The combination of rising prices and expected low reserves means the world is facing a double danger."
Roche warned that without action millions more would join the billion people who are already hungry in the world and said that the agricultural policies of the world's wealthiest nations were as much to blame for the impending crisis as anything.
Members of the G-20, said Roche, must "reverse decades of under-investment into small-holder agriculture. The US and EU must ditch their crazy biofuels programs that turn 40% of US corn, for example, into gas for cars and trucks. We must tackle the causes and effects of climate change that will eventually, without action, overwhelm our food system entirely."
"These price hikes are being driven by more than just a drought in the US corn-belt and problem harvests elsewhere. As bad as they are, our food system should be more resilient than this," Roche said.
# # #
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.