World food prices- Rise again...

Recently, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) revealed that World food prices have risen making food out of reach once again for the World's poorest. Skyrocketing prices surpass exchange rates only found 30 years ago. Estimates suggest hundreds of millions of people in all reaches of the Earth will feel the effects of rising prices. Not only will farmers and laborers be affected, but those who purchase and consume will fall victim to rising grain prices. "Net food importers", or countries like the United States which primarily import agricultural goods will also feel the sting of rising food prices. Cheap commodities used to feed workers will now be more expensive, thus increasing the price of imported goods. Along with this grim message from the IFPRI, a far more menacing laundry list of catastrophes waiting to happen still cloud our dreary path to progress. Not surprisingly this list includes climate change, unequal wealth distribution, and the rise of global urbanization tally this list with impending urgency. Ironically alternative "green" bio-fuels are poised to increase soybean prices by 26 percent before the year 2020. Riots are slowly surfacing in dangerously overpopulated areas such as Bangladesh beacon the beginning of yet another brooding crisis. Indeed the growing economies of Asian countries such as India and China demand meat products and high-quality imported goods, which in turn require cheap grain to either produce or sustain. This interdependency balances the food supplies of the Earth on a very fragile scale, which can be easily tipped by expected environmental catastrophes. Inevitably scientists postulate the growth of the human race to levels beyond those we see today. Dwarfing the already bloated tally of 6 billion lives, the years to come forebode a reality of 12 billion human souls wandering the Earth in search of food. This statistic becomes far more startling when the prices of food are not expected to falter...

http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/47985/2008/00/4-124656-1.htm

Update: January 14, 2008

Due to the rise in world food prices, the global community has responded with the creation of an independent fund which will now provide food and much needed supplies for those countries who ask for rudimentary goods such as grain and water. These basic goods are used to feed those workers who in turn cultivate high demand imported agricultural goods. Despite the far reaching effects of the recent surge in food prices, the global community has established this fund backed with $17 million dollars.

However, there is concern within the UN that the new fund will not meet the demands of impoverished countries. Stemming from a sheer lack of supply the UN fears that by the end of the year the requests for basic commodities will not be properly fulfilled. A hefty fee of 107 billion dollars is needed to fund those countries, creating a huge disparity in assets and demands.

Not surprisingly severe droughts and an unprecedented lack of supply is the cause for the recent spike in prices. Furthermore the price of crude oil has risen in kind with food making shipping even more expensive, thus making a sound exchange process rather pricey. Interestingly most farms are watered through precipitation rather than irrigation. This capricious relationship between farmer and mother nature has recently been plagued with misfortune.

Finally, the director of FAO (The UN Food and Agriculture Organization) Jacques Diouf stressed the temporary nature of the fund. However Diouf hints that longer programs must be established to fully wrestle the crisis of rising food prices.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/e907a284ee2f0d9ab2c368dafa127cc6.htm