São Paulo – Food prices will remain volatile and high in coming years, according to a report issued this Monday (10) by the United Nations’ three hunger relief agencies. According to the survey “The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2011,” launched in Rome, volatility and high prices contribute to food insecurity, increases poverty, and makes consumers and countries more vulnerable.
Also according to the survey, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP), small countries that depend on food imports, especially in Africa, are the most affected by the problem.
The survey claims that demand from consumers in developing nations will rise, populations will continue growing, and any increase whatsoever in biofuels consumption should lead to greater pressure on food prices. The three agencies also claim that the increased instability of food prices may even become more pronounced in the next decade due to the establishment of closer ties between the agricultural and energy markets, and because of “extreme weather events,” which are increasingly frequent.
This price hike may jeopardize the meeting of the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to reduce poverty in the planet. In the survey, the directors of the FAO, Jacques Diouf, of the IFAD, Kanayo Nwanze, and of the WFP, Josette Sheeran, claim that it is unacceptable to have millions of people suffering from hunger by 2015. “Even if the Millennium Goals are achieved by 2015, approximately 600 million people in developing countries will still be malnourished. Having 600 million people suffering from hunger every day is inacceptable.”
The agencies claim that the solution to food insecurity lies in strong economies and major world food producers. According to the survey, large producing countries help ward off food insecurity as they react to price hikes by boosting production. The survey also calls for investment in agriculture with an emphasis on small farmers, who are the main food producers in some developing countries.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
