"While customers at restaurants in New York City will soon be able to count the calories of their meals in an attempt to curb the obesity epidemic, people in New Delhi are currently counting the grains of their rice. From Bolivia to Yemen, people around the world are taking to the streets in protest at the spiralling increases in food prices."
These are the opening words of the lead Editorial in this week's Lancet, which discusses the current crisis in world food prices and what must be done to tackle this humanitarian disaster. Rises in the cost of wheat (130%) and rice (120%) in the past year are causing the starvation of millions and at least 100 million more people will be pushed further into poverty. The target of Millennium Development Goal 1, to reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger -- is in reverse.
Many factors are contributing to the food crisis -- the world population is expected to increase by three billion by 2050, and emerging economies are not only eating more, but more meat (it can take 9kg of grain to produce 1kg of meat). Crop yields have fallen dramatically in the last decade. The collapse of the US housing market has made investors turn to commodities such as food, resulting in a "commodities super-cycle" where food inflation feeds on itself. Rich countries are dumping subsidised produce into the markets of poor nations, wrecking the livelihood of local farmers in those countries.
But the Editorial targets biofuels as one of the biggest contributors to the food produce, saying: "In the drive to make the USA self-sustaining for fuel production, massive ethanol subsidies and millions of acres of American corn have led to a boom in biofuels. American cars now burn enough corn to cover the import needs of 82 food-deficit countries. But thanks to a backlash against biofuels in Europe, the European Union, once committed to a 10% biofuel target by 2020, is sensibly rethinking its position."
Many key players who can tackle the food crisis have it on their agendas -- including UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the United Nations, and the World Bank among others. The UN Secretary-General is considering a holding a world summit to discuss the crisis. But the Editorial warns of the dangers of disjointed efforts and short-term solutions such as more humanitarian aid distracting from the root causes, saying: "For example, the USA and France, among the first to announce their increase in food aid donations, have directly contributed to the crisis by repeatedly failing to stand up to their own farmers by abolishing agricultural subsidies."
The Editorial concludes: "Food is a complex political issue and quick fixes are not enough. Without a long-term plan that takes a bold stand against ethanol subsidies, the use of biofuels, and the trade distortions that have contributed to crisis, any action will just be a temporary sticking plaster. Continuous food crises will be the new global norm unless the international community works together to find fair and sustainable solutions to tackle the root causes of global food insecurity."
The Lancet Press Office T) +44 (0) 20 7424 4949 E) pressoffice@lancet.com
http://multimedia.thelancet.com/pdf/press/food.pdf
Journal
The Lancet