Addressing the first Global Agro-Industries Forum in New Delhi recently, the Director-General of Food and Agriculture Organisation, Jacques Diouf said that a combination of factors, including reduced production due to climate change, historically low levels of stocks, higher consumption of meat and dairy products in emerging economies, increased demand for bio-fuels production and the higher cost of energy and transport have led to surges in food prices.
The Director-General of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) said that climate change will impose great stresses on the world's ability to feed ever-growing populations.
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This challenge brings new threats to arable land areas, livestock rearing and fisheries through droughts, water shortages and pollution of land, air and sea. The President of International Fund for Agriculture Development told the conference that in recent years, a number of developing countries have become net importers of food.
The trade talks at the WTO have stalled on the issue of farm subsidies that rich countries give their farmers. The subsidies lead to over production and dumping international markets that depress the prices harming the interests of the small farmers in poorer countries. Unless rich countries agree to cut the farm subsidies substantially, there can be no question of any further progress in talks. That has been the consistent stand of the developing countries.
But now the situation has changed. "World food prices have risen 45 per cent in the last nine months and there are serious shortages of rice, wheat and maize," said Diouf. The changed situation calls for more output in the short run. Although the prices might moderate in the later half of the year, the reprieve might be short-lived because three decades of near stagnant prices have whittled down the investments in the farm sector. Increased investment in irrigation and infrastructure, facilitation to small farmers' access to inputs so they can raise their productivity, effective marketing and processing systems for agricultural products seem long term measures.
On the issue of