Ensuring Food Security

Ensuring Food Security

By Dr Arvind Kumar

The first half of 2011 has witnessed global food prices soaring to a record high, raising concerns of new round of social unrest like that which spread through many regions of the world in 2008. From 2006 to 2008, average global prices for food staples soared, with rice jumping 217 percent, wheat 136 percent, corn 125 percent and soybeans 107 percent. Some experts argued that global population growth was to blame, while others pointed to dietary changes brought about by growing prosperity in developing countries, including an increase in the consumption of meat and processed foods. Still others blamed the increasing diversion of food crops to make bio-fuels or trade liberalization, which opened up developing countries to food imports from generously subsidized Western producers, negatively impacting local production. Whatever the cause, the result was mass unrest, with protests and riots breaking out in 30 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Agricultural ministers of the Group of 20 or G-20, at the initiation of France, held a summit in Paris on 22-23 June this year to discuss ways to ensure food security and tame volatility in food prices. The summit presented an action plan to curb rising food prices that will be submitted to the G-20 leadership at their November summit. The plan seeks to address a number of issues thought to be related to high food prices and shortages, including speculation; food productivity in developing countries; bio-fuel production and export restrictions. It also calls for an early warning system for crop supply, demand and food stocks, and the establishment of a targeted emergency humanitarian food reserve system. G-20 nations should follow up on the action plan's pledge to give "special attention" to small-scale farmers in developing countries, and strive to reduce or eliminate their own domestic farm subsidies and agricultural import quotas and tariffs.

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