A dramatic increase in the worldwide cost of food is provoking riots
around the world as cereal prices soar out of reach for
the world's most vulnerable people. Lack of food and food prices threatens
to become the biggest crisis of the 21st century.
There have
been riots in Niger, Senegal, Cameroon, Burkina Faso ans protests
in Mauritania, Ivery Coast, Egypt, Morocco, Yemen and Mexico.
In total 36 'food crises' has been recorded by the UN's department
for Food and Agriculture. "The threat of malnutrition on a massive
scale is looming," said a spokeswoman for the UN.
A comples net
of interacting factors are contributing to the problems.
Changing
diet
In India, China, Russia and Brazil, economic growth has boosted
meat consumption. In China it is up 150% since 1980, while India eat
40% more meat than 15 years ago. Because cattle and chicken are fed
on corn - it takes 8 kg of grain to produce 1 kg of beef - the price
is forced up.
Soaring cost of oil
The soaring cost of oil (£53
/ $105 per barrel) also impact grain price. Oil prices leads to higher
cost for fertiliser, food processing and transport.
Climate change
Climate
change, in particular droughts and floods, are affecting harvests.
This year, floods in China devastated rice and corn crops. During
the last 7 years, China's grain harvest has fallen 10%. In Australia
a severe drought caused a 60% drop in the wheat harvest. Even the
UK is affected. Floods are expected to cut the wheat harvest by 10%
this year.
Rising world population
A world population, expected
to grow from 6.2 billion to 9.2 billion in 2050, is pushing up prices.
The World Bank predicts that global demand for food will double by
2030.
Biofuels
The new market for biofuels has raised grain prices.
Corn is being used to produce energy. In the coming decade it is anticipated
that the production will increase hugely. The US administration wants
15% of American cars to run on biofuels by 2017. The European Union
has set a 5.75% target for 2010.
There is however, a growing
concern about the rush for biofuels. Britain's new chief Scientist,
Professor John Beddington, has said that cutting down rainforest to
grow biofuel crops was "profoundly stupid." It was, he said, "very
hard to imagine how the world can grown enough crops to produce renewable
energy and, at the same time, meet the enormous increase in the demand
for food during the next decades."
