"Income growth, climate change, high energy prices, globalization, and urbanization are all converging to transform food production, markets, and consumption, according to a new report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). As a result, global food demand and prices are likely to rise, threatening the livelihoods and nutrition of poor people in developing countries. The report, "The World Food Situation: New Driving Forces and Required Actions," was released today at the annual general meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
"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. "Surging demand for feed, food, and fuel have recently led to drastic price increases, which are not likely to fall in the foreseeable future, due to low stocks and slow-growing supplies of agricultural outputs. Climate change will also have a negative impact on food production, compounding the challenge of meeting global food demand, and potentially exacerbating hunger and malnutrition among the world's poorest people." "Economic growth has helped to reduce hunger, particularly when it is equitable," added von Braun. "But unfortunately, growth does not always reach the poorest people."
And 100USD per barrel closing up (even though largely also due to USD lousy state)
Poorest will suffer .... which in intellectual level makes one of course very worried but unfortunately in truly emotional level is sort of too "distant" to really have a lasting impact.
Well anyway made me remeber one of my old "ruikutus" blog post http://tuomosthoughts.blogspot.com/2006/08/drought-price-of-oil-barrel-finnish.html
I'm more and more convinced that we should really start heavily investing in our countryside and farming as a society - energy needed for large scale food supply chain transportation will just be getting more expensive and there will be less supply globally available/more demand in the future. I just hope EU farming legistlations (tuned really for over production of wine and olive oil ?) will not hinder us too much in trying to live with changing realities.
Actually it's funny that so many Finns are definately pro having our own defence forces instead if Nato ("It will anyway be just us if the shit hits the fan") when in case of equally or actually more important food supply people just seem to fine in trusting that we will be always supplied with food from EU/global markets even in case of "food crisis" ("Why should I subsidise the living standards of our farmers...").
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