Food for thought: Food prices and policy rethink on G8’s plate

Reuters has compiled a report relying on information from the World Bank, the United Nations, and UNICEF which details some of the factors responsible for the current high costs of food globally. The report also discusses who is impacted by these prices and how the immediate forecast looks. Most interestingly, the synopsis reviews possible solutions:

— The World Bank has called for a doubling of agricultural aid and more aid money, with fewer ties, for the U.N.’s World Food Program, extra social support for poor people such as feeding people at school and work. It wants seed and fertilizer provided to the most affected countries for the upcoming planting season, a rethink of biofuel policies in rich countries, an increase in Japanese rice donations and exports, and swift progress to complete the Doha trade round.

— The Asian Development Bank has suggested measures such as targeted food subsidies and an emergency food security reserves system, policy advice on export restrictions, price controls and subsidies, and help to ensure farmers have easy, reliable and affordable access to seed, fertilizers, pesticides and credit.

— A moratorium on global grain and oilseed-based biofuels would help ease wheat and corn prices by up to 20 percent in the next few years, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) says.

— The FAO and OECD, in a report, said more genetically modified crops may be needed to increase food production.

For more in-depth reading on this subject, see the World Bank’s paper “Addressing the Food Crisis: The Need for Rapid and Coordinated Action” here or their paper “Double Jeopardy: Responding to High Food and Fuel Prices” here.

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