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| Concern for World's Food 15/04/2011 |
| (2011-04-15) |
| Last updated: 2011-04-18 10:55 EET |
The planet’s food safety is being seriously threatened by constantly growing process. Food prices are 36% above last year’s levels. A further 10% rise would push another 10 million people below the extreme poverty line of 1.25 dollars a day. 1.2 billion people already live below this line. A 30% hike in food prices would mean that another 34 million people could join them, said the World Bank president Robert Zoellick. He believes food prices have reached a dangerous peak and could pose a threat to the world’s poor.
According to the World Bank food price index, grains saw the highest increases. Maize grew by 74% compared to last year, wheat by 69%, soybeans by 36% and sugar by 21%. In many countries, the increases in the price of vegetables, fruit, meat and cooking oil have had negative consequences on the population’s nutrition and health. According to the World Bank, food prices have soared due to severe weather in key grain exporting countries such as the United States, Russia and Australia.
Export restrictions, the increasing use of bio-fuel production to the detriment of food production and low global stocks have also fuelled food price hikes. The increase in food prices is also the result of the surging price of crude oil, which went up 21% in the first quarter of 2011, the World Bank experts explain. In low-income countries, the inflation of food prices was more severe than in countries with high incomes. In Kyrgyzstan, for example, where the poorest part of the population spends 73% of their income on food, food prices increased by 27%, which has driven 11% of the population below the extreme poverty line.
Analysts recall that food price increases also contributed to the recent unrest in northern Africa and the Middle East and fuelled inflation, causing central banks to consider an increase in interest rates. At world level, new efforts need to be made to provide food to vulnerable categories, said World Bank president Robert Zoellick. He says that instead of keeping prices in check, more attention should be given to supporting the underprivileged. In an attempt to fight the world food crisis, the World Bank has allocated 1.5 billion dollars of short term to support 40 million people, while in the long run, it plans to invest some 7 billion dollars a year in the agricultural sector.
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