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Food crisis
BBC Programme on Future of Food
George Alagiah travels the world to reveal a growing global food crisis that could affect the planet in the years ahead. Programmes cover a range of issues from the depletion of fish stocks to global increases in meat consumption, biofuels, genetic modification and climate change.
Follow this link to find out more.
UK food production needs a radical rethink
The UK must produce more food to feed a growing population, the Environment Secretary warned today as the government assesses measures to safeguard our future provisions.
The assessment outlining the threats to the security of what we eat showed that future global food supplies could be threatened by the impacts of climate change on where crops can grow, increases in the incidence of animal diseases and water shortages.
Read the rest of the article and view Channel 4 broadcasts on this issue here.
Another 40 million people hungry in 2008
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported a global rise in hunger in December 2008. A further 40 million people brought the number of undernourished people in the world to 963 million, compared with 923 million in 2007.
This increase is mainly due to the high price of cereals, seeds and fertilizer. FAO warned that the effects of the economic recession, such as a reduced demand for exports from developing nations could tip far more people into poverty and hunger in 2009.
World's poor worst hit by global recession
A Unesco Global Monitoring report predicts that the poorest countries will be the worst affected by the global (recession), with the incomes of the 390 million poorest Africans dropping by 20%. The crisis has seen a drastic fall in commodity prices and investment flow, and the slowing of the UN Millennium Development goals. Many countries have limited tax and spend capacity, especially those furthest from achieving the international goals, including Ethiopia, Rwanda and Bangladesh. The aid from developed countries is dropping as it is expressed as shares of what are now GDPs. Unesco is calling for united international efforts including increased aid money and governance reforms.
Biofuel:"A Double-Edged Sword"
There is a widespread international debate occuring in these changing times: biofuel versus food security.
Kofi Annan, previous director-general of the UN, recently spoke in Cape Town, South Africa at the launch of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), where he was made chairman of the continental body. "We know that the path to prosperity in Africa begins at the fields of African farmers, who unlike farmers almost anywhere else, do not produce enough food to nourish our families, communities, or the populations of our growing African cities".
A new report of the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2007-2016 added ”structural changes in agriculture, specifically for increased feedstock for biofuel production, would keep agriculture prices at historic high levels for the next decade."
Uganda Food Crisis Undermining Efforts to Fight HIV/AIDS
Erratic weather, which has brought floods and drought, and rising food prices are taking a devastating toll on east Africa. Last month, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said nearly 20 million people were now dependent on food aid in the region.
Uganda is experiencing famine and acute food shortages and the most vulnerable households are those headed by women, children or the elderly.
But there is another group who could suffer as a result of the food crisis – people living with HIV/Aids (PLWHA). The situation is beginning to undermine efforts to fight the virus in the north and east of Uganda, the areas most affected by the drought.
Read more here
The price of staple foods rose extraordinarily during 2007/2008 while in real terms, food prices have jumped by 75% since 2005. This increase is a result of the explosion in the price of oil to over $100 a barrel, which put pressure on the cost of food.
At the same time, the Unites States offered huge agricultural subsidies to develop biofuels as a substitute for oil, in the form of ethanol distilled from corn. Large areas of land are now being used for biofuel instead of food production.
Scotland is fertile land for cultivating cereal crops such as wheat, barley and oats, yet could not be self sufficient if global food supply chains were disrupted.
A solution for Scotland needs government and businesses to work with regional and national planners and land economists to create a blueprint that gives more land to localized and small-scale urban food production. This could insulate people from the cost of commodities and reconnect people with the production of their food.
UN calls for agricultural reforms
The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) has called on world leaders to urgently reform farming rules to boost the state of global agriculture and prevent a food crisis that could threaten international security and the fight against poverty.
Last year the WTO reported an overall increase in global food prices of 83% in the 36 months up to February 2008. The world is experiencing an unprecedented food crisis, inflating the price of basic staples the world over and aggravating poverty and malnutrition in developing countries.
The South Centre; an intergovernmental policy think tank of developing countries, recently stated that although it was important for governments to focus on short-term measures combating the crisis; "addressing the root causes of the crisis requires a thorough appraisal of the global industrial agri-food system and concerted, long-term commitment to reforms aimed at ensuring global food security."
A priority identified by the South Centre is a critical examination of the the use of intellectual property rights, (particularly patents and plant breeders right's) in the agri-food sector. Their impact on local markets and farmers in developing countries is limiting the ability of small producers to adapt to change and become food secure.
