In the last three years, basic food staples such as rice, wheat and maize have risen by an average of 83 per cent worldwide, forcing food prices to record 30-year highs and culminating in a global food crisis.
It is estimated some 37 countries have been, or will be, severely hit by the soaring food prices. Food shortages have led to large scale street riots in India, Yemen, Mexico, Haiti, Indonesia and Egypt while the rising cost of beef and milk has seen Venezuelan politicians fighting to keep a cap on food price inflation.
There are many causes behind the increased cost of food, but the development of this catastrophe is primarily the result of inequality in the global food system. As John Nichols, of
The Nation magazine in New York writes, ‘the food shortages, suddenly front-page news, are not new. Hundreds of millions of people were starving and malnourished last year; the only change is that as the scope of the crisis has grown it has become more difficult to manage the hunger that a failed food system accepts rather than feeds.’
A global system of greed
The global food system is the worldwide system by which food is produced, distributed and traded amongst nations. The current implementation of the system is a product of globalisation and the free market and was developed by the world’s global governance institutions—the World Bank, World Trade Organisation and International Monetary Fund in collaboration with a host of US based agribusiness conglomerates—in order to open up national markets for international trade.
Transnational corporations currently control approximately 40 per cent of the world trade in food. This corporate dominance makes it very hard for local markets to develop and forces developing nations to become reliant on products produced overseas.
The failure of this system is highlighted by the immense paradox of an obesity epidemic in wealthier nations existing alongside world hunger. Raj Patel, author of the widely acclaimed book
Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World System said in 2007, ‘we [the world] produce more food than ever before, but more than one in ten people on the planet are hungry. The hunger of 800 million happens at the same time as another historical first, they are out numbered by the one billion people on this planet who are overweight.’
Furthering the crisis
More than just binding nation’s economies and forcing people in developing countries to depend on foreign imports, the current food system is also struggling to contend with a range of global issues. There are four main contributing factors identified by the United Nations (UN) and aid agencies.
Firstly, the massive increase in petroleum consumption by India and China and the depletion of global reserves, have forced the price of oil to rise sharply. This has caused the cost of food production, transport and distribution to climb over the last three years. Secondly, the quest for alternative energy sources, including a global pursuit of biofuels, has seen the world’s largest grain producer, the United States, turn over a third of its annual crop to the production of ethanol (a viable petroleum alternative) rather than food products.
Thirdly, the impact of climate change has lead to increases in extreme weather conditions including stronger and more regular floods and droughts. And lastly, the world’s population has grown so substantially over the last three decades that global demand for food will continue to drive up food prices under the workings of the current system.
Alleviating the hunger
According to Josette Sheeran, director of the UN’s World Food Program, there are currently 854 million hungry people in the world and 4 million more join their ranks every year. This means the short term task of the UN, the three global governance institutions, aid agencies and world governments must simply be relief for the people who are living without adequate food. Fortunately, it appears that they have realised the scale of the problem.
The World Bank, with the necessary backing of the United States, has developed a $1.2 billion fund which will be used to implement food-for-work programs, conditional cash transfers and school lunch programs in underdeveloped countries. This will be supplemented by the establishment of a top-level UN task force, which, according to UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, will address food shortages and escalating prices that threaten to touch off a ‘cascade of related crises’ around the world.
However, while short-term solutions appear to be underway, there needs to be fundamental changes within the global food system if we are to avoid another crisis in the coming years. As a June 2008 report by Oxfam Australia said, ‘this crisis represents an enormous challenge…but also a genuine opportunity to deliver long-overdue reforms to the food and agriculture system.’
People in developing countries must be allowed further autonomy over their food markets. The system must ensure communities can produce healthy food for local consumption rather than having to rely on international imports, because as Raj Patel says, ‘good food should not solely be the domain of those able to afford it.’
How do I know this?
Chandler, J 2008, ‘Rising hunger could dwarf tsunami, warns Oxfam’,
The Age, 3 June
Canberra Times 2008, ‘US must take lead in fighting hunger’,
Canberra Times, 3 May
Canberra Times 2007, ‘Eating into global greed’,
Canberra Times, 26 September
Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations,
www.fao.org
Nichols, J 2008, ‘World food crisis’,
The Nation, 28 April
Oxfam International,
www.oxfam.org
Patel, R 2007, Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World System, Black Inc. Melbourne
United Nations World Food Program,
www.wfp.org/english/
Vidal, J 2007, ‘Global food crisis looms as climate change and fuel shortages bite’,
The Guardian, 3 November
Wade, M 2007, ‘Know your product’,
Sydney Morning Herald, 1 September
