The Rise in Food Prices, the Pressure on Inflation in all Countries

After a relatively stable nominal food prices on the world markets during the years 1974-2005 and a gradual decline in their real price by an astounding 75%, a combination of several factors since 2005 brought a sharp increase in food and feed prices at accelerating rates that reached crisis proportion in mid-2007.

According to different articles and reports, several factors have contributed to the rise in the price of grains and other food products. The buoyant global economic growth and the exceptionally rapid growth and the rise in the standard of living certain countries are among others.

The demand-driven boom concentrated in particular in the emerging economies, most notably in China, India, Brazil and the Middle East, and their unprecedented growth and vigorous industrialization increased also their demand for oil and raw materials as an effect of the rise in the number and use of vehicles, their more capital intensive production methods, their urbanization and higher incomes that increased also their use of electricity and their consumption of high-valued products.

The most fiercely controversial factor that contributed to the rise in food prices is the demand for bio-fuel. In the US bio-fuel is produced primarily from corn and it set a target of producing 7.5 billion gals of renewable fuel use in gasoline by 2012. In the EU total biofuels production in is smaller and 80% is bio-diesel produced from rapeseed, soy and increasingly also from palm oil imported from East Asia. Production of bio-fuel is driven by generous incentives given to farmers that grow corn for ethanol in the and soy and rapeseeds for bio-diesel in the EU. Both the US and the EU set high targets for the production of bio-fuels in the next decade, but the worsening food shortages and the heated controversy about their environmental impact force policy makers to take another look at these goals.

As a result of all these developments, the dollar prices of staple foods rose, in 2006 and 2007, by over 40 percent. The main rise was in grain prices and some of them, particularly the prices of wheat and rice nearly tripled in the last year alone and the prices of corn and soybeans nearly doubled. The rise in food prices and in the price of oil put an upward pressure on inflation in nearly all countries.

Gender and Equity Issues in Liquid Biofuels Production - Minimizing the Risks to Maximize the Opportunities

This paper on gender and equity issues in liquid biofuels production was prepared at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) by the UN in Gender Equity and Rural Employment Division. The paper discusses the potential gender-differentiated risks of large-scale liquid biofuels production in developing countries, particularly in terms of food secu. . .

Added by  Immaculate Bugingo  May 14, 2008
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Food for the Hungry: the case for buying locally

By Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme Last month, I spoke to a group of British parliamentarians who sit on something called the International Development Committee. Their role is to scrutinise the work of the Department for International Development. ”DFID” – as it is known - is the arm of the Britis. . .

Added by  Blog Ideas4development  May 14, 2008
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"Patenting the “Climate Genes”…And Capturing the Climate Agenda"

"The world’s largest seed and agrochemical corporations are stockpiling hundreds of monopoly patents on genes in plants that the companies will market as crops genetically engineered to withstand environmental stresses such as drought, heat, cold, floods, saline soils, and more. BASF, Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta, Dupont and biotech partners have file. . .

Added by  John Daly  May 13, 2008
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  Final Report to the ACC/ SCN by the Commision on Nutrition Challenges of the 21st Century

The Commission proposes a new paradigm of nutrition which incorporates the double burden of undernutrition and diet-related adult disease. This double burden is amplified by the link between maternal and fetal undernutrition and a population’s susceptibility to adult diet-related disease. This is displayed when food consumption and activity pattern. . .

Added by  Shambhu Ghatak  May 13, 2008
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History of American Agriculture

This is a very interesting website which provides information on the history of American agriculture. The paradigm shifts in agricultural practices and institutions in the US could be assessed by a careful reading of the content provided here.

Added by  Shambhu Ghatak  May 12, 2008
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  Green revolution in Africa (Rockeller Foundation)

This policy brief informs that "while some are attempting to boost African agricultural productivity by biotechnological engineering, others prefer the results-oriented, plant breeding approach".

Added by  Shambhu Ghatak  May 12, 2008
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AgLR 2008: Interview with Lisa Petrides (ISKME and OERCommons)

For the session on "Repositories with open educational resources for agriculture & rural development" (which has now started and is expected to conclude on Sunday 11th of May), we have taken an interview from Dr. Lisa Petrides (President, Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education - ISKME) about the creation of the Open Educat. . .

Added by  Cally Robyn Wolk  May 12, 2008
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Dietary Diversity as a Measure of Women's Diet Quality in Resource-Poor Areas: Results from Rural Bangladesh Site

In developing countries, where low-quality, monotonous grain- and tuber-based diets are the norm, the risk for micronutrient deficiencies is high. Women of reproductive age are among those most likely to suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, yet in developing countries there are very little data on women’s micronutrient status and the quality of . . .

Added by  Kevin Blythe  May 12, 2008
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Free four-day Online e-learning Course: NETWORKING IN SUPPORT OF DEVELOPMENT for members in Asia

The Food and Agriculture Organization and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation invite applications from the e-agriculture.org Community in Asia to participate in a free four-day Online e-learning Course: NETWORKING IN SUPPORT OF DEVELOPMENT A Course for Applicants in Asia will be held in late 2008. Only open to . . .

Added by  Charlotte Masiello  May 7, 2008
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US Commodity Futures Trading Commission: Agricultural Forum, April 22, 2008

The CFTC hosted an agricultural forum on April 22, 2008 to gather information about whether the futures markets are properly performing their risk management and price discovery roles.

Added by  Njoman George Bestari  May 7, 2008
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