food prices climbing

Food Prices Climbing, With No End in Sight
Abra Pollock, Inter Press Service
Globalisation, climate change, and the mass production of biofuels are pushing up food prices worldwide, which could jeopardise the livelihoods of the world’s poorest, according to a report released Tuesday by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).1206 09

“Food prices have been steadily decreasing since the Green Revolution, but the days of falling food prices may be over,” said Joachim von Braun, lead author of the report and director general of IFPRI.

Titled, “The World Food Situation: New Driving Forces and Required Actions”, the 16-page report examined how various global trends are impacting world hunger on both the supply and demand ends of the market.

“Surging demand for feed, food, and fuel have recently led to drastic price increases, which are not likely to fall in the foreseeable future,” von Braun said. But “climate change will also have a negative impact on food production.”

Similar findings have been reported by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation, according to IFPRI.
(6 December 2007)
Also posted at Common Dreams.