The Food Crisis and Latin America

Skyrocketing prices increased the number of hungry and
malnourished Latin Americans; boycotts and protests became rampant
which caused widespread social unrest; and governments were tried to
control food prices through emergency policy measures. While several
factors are cited as causes of the dramatic rise in food prices,
the new policy brief, The Food Crisis and Latin America,
explains the lack of access to and affordability of food in Latin
America a result of trade and agricultural policies implemented over
the past three decades. Beginning in the 1980s, Latin America as a
region enacted the most sweeping reforms to its trade policies in the
world, producing dramatic increases in agricultural trade. The policy
brief examines if these gains have done anything to shield the region
from inflation in world commodity prices and if they have made Latin
America more food secure.

The policy brief also finds that even though world commodity
prices have somewhat stabilized and recent reports indicate a downward
turn in commodity prices, store shelves across the region are still
void of affordable food and the crisis warrants immediate
measures to address the failures in the global food system.