First of all an apology is owed for the poor attempt at humour in the title of this post because actually the meaning is much more literal. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is currently downplaying fears of a global food crisis being flamed by the widespread drought in Russia which caused a drop in wheat production and a subsequent Government ban on grain exports. Senior economists at the FAO claim that overall crop production levels are historically high although they do admit to being concerned by the speed of the recent rises, which has seen grain prices hit two year highs on the commodity markets while the price of wheat has risen by 50% since the start of July.

World Food Programme delivers food to Haiti – Image: Peter Casier /UNWFP

Clearly the ability of one large exporting state to cause prolonged volatility in the commodity markets coupled with the unpredictable effects of climate change means that the potential of increasing food prices and possible shortages gives us all a reason to be concerned. Of course while some of us will be more than a little annoyed as the price of a decent pint goes past £4, it is in poorer households globally that the increase in prices is most keenly felt. Indeed, some of the world’s poorest countries are already suffering the consequences as witnessed by the death of six people in the Mozambique capital Maputo this week. Maputo saw riots have break out in response to the 25% rise in the price of bread this year, the declining currency and rising water and fuel prices all of which could potentially lead to political unrest.

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I love food but I am sure that I am not the only one who takes for granted the ability to just pop to my nearest supermarket to stock up on supplies. Food is essential not simply a pleasure as everyday millions of people across the world struggle to get enough food to survive. According to the non-governmental organisation Action contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations reported that in 2006 854 million people throughout the world suffered from hunger. Now there are multiple causes of hunger including natural catastrophes, conflicts, epidemics or poverty all of which have been exacerbated by the global economic crisis that began in 2007, threatening not just jobs but lives too, as food prices rose dramatically. The fact that 10 million people actually die of hunger each year, 6 million of whom are children under the age of 5 is a real cause for concern, especially when it is widely estimated that the number of hungry people could pass the one billion mark this year.

Moreover, despite the World Bank increasing the funding of its Global Food Crisis Response Program to over $2 billion in April of this year, food prices in many countries remain unsustainably high. In sub-Saharan Africa 80 to 90 percent of all cereal prices monitored by FAO in 27 countries remain more than 25 percent higher than before the soaring food price crisis two years ago. In Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean prices are monitored in a total of 31 countries, and in over half of these prices also remain more than 25 percent higher than in the pre food-crisis period (2007). In Eastern Africa, in Sudan, prices of sorghum in June were three times higher than two years ago. Consequently, a World Food Summit is to be held at FAO Headquarters in Rome in November, with the aim of securing a broad consensus on the eradication of hunger, on improved governance of the international agricultural system and on policies and programmes to ensure world food security.

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