On 9 April 2008, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations, has issued a press release to urge the international society to implement urgent measures to ensure that short-term adverse effects of higher food prices do not impact even more alarmingly on the very poor. It is also suggested the political unrest may be resulted in these countries.
An article in the TIME magazine with the title "No Grain, Big Pain" dated 10 April 2008 has discussed why there are rising food prices and why the poor in developing countries would be most affected by the rising food prices.
WHY RISING FOOD PRICE?
1. In an effort to contain spiraling domestic prices, major rice producers, including India and Vietnam, have sharply curbed exports — disrupting global supply chains, fueling more inflation, and prompting rice hoarding and panic-induced shortages.
2. Due to increasing rising prices in the global market, many food producers have chosen to export their food rather then to sell the food in domestic market which the price is generally lower since people in developing countries could not afford higher prices. This leads to a shortage of food supply with acceptable price in domestic market.
3. There is a short-term supply shock due to unusually cold weather and pest infestation in Vietnam, the world's second largest supplier of rice.
4. Rice production is not keeping pace with demand from surging Asian populations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that worldwide rice consumption increased 0.9% last year, to nearly 424 million metric tons. Production increased less than 0.7%.
WHY POOR FAMILY SUFFERS?
1. Most Asian families spend half of their weekly budget on food, more than double what Western household spend. Rising food prices have affected the budget of Asian families greatly.
2. In the Western market, you can always buy chicken if you cannot find pork. But rice has no good substitute in many Asian diets. In addition, rice has been important food for poor families in rural areas since people could feel full more easily after having rice compared to having other food.
3. The impact is particularly heavy in countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, which are dependent on imported rice to feed their large populations. In the Philippines, where some 68 million people live on less than $2 a day, the government recently urged restaurants to halve their portions of rice.
4. Inflation in the global market has made the African community suffers most. This is because Africa's rice depends on Asia's surpluses. Protectionism in Asia (i.e. major rice producers) would make more African living in hunger and poverty.
WHAT'S NEXT?
In this incident, both free trade and protectionism have worsen the problem. Free trade raised the price of food and people in developing countries could not afford the international price. On the other hand, protectionism in some countries has worsen the situation in countries which have no bargaining power at all, e.g. Africa. After reading the article, I ask myself a question, "so, what can be done?"
Apart from saying we should waste less food in our daily life, what's next?
An article in the TIME magazine with the title "No Grain, Big Pain" dated 10 April 2008 has discussed why there are rising food prices and why the poor in developing countries would be most affected by the rising food prices.
WHY RISING FOOD PRICE?
1. In an effort to contain spiraling domestic prices, major rice producers, including India and Vietnam, have sharply curbed exports — disrupting global supply chains, fueling more inflation, and prompting rice hoarding and panic-induced shortages.
2. Due to increasing rising prices in the global market, many food producers have chosen to export their food rather then to sell the food in domestic market which the price is generally lower since people in developing countries could not afford higher prices. This leads to a shortage of food supply with acceptable price in domestic market.
3. There is a short-term supply shock due to unusually cold weather and pest infestation in Vietnam, the world's second largest supplier of rice.
4. Rice production is not keeping pace with demand from surging Asian populations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that worldwide rice consumption increased 0.9% last year, to nearly 424 million metric tons. Production increased less than 0.7%.
WHY POOR FAMILY SUFFERS?
1. Most Asian families spend half of their weekly budget on food, more than double what Western household spend. Rising food prices have affected the budget of Asian families greatly.
2. In the Western market, you can always buy chicken if you cannot find pork. But rice has no good substitute in many Asian diets. In addition, rice has been important food for poor families in rural areas since people could feel full more easily after having rice compared to having other food.
3. The impact is particularly heavy in countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, which are dependent on imported rice to feed their large populations. In the Philippines, where some 68 million people live on less than $2 a day, the government recently urged restaurants to halve their portions of rice.
4. Inflation in the global market has made the African community suffers most. This is because Africa's rice depends on Asia's surpluses. Protectionism in Asia (i.e. major rice producers) would make more African living in hunger and poverty.
WHAT'S NEXT?
In this incident, both free trade and protectionism have worsen the problem. Free trade raised the price of food and people in developing countries could not afford the international price. On the other hand, protectionism in some countries has worsen the situation in countries which have no bargaining power at all, e.g. Africa. After reading the article, I ask myself a question, "so, what can be done?"
Apart from saying we should waste less food in our daily life, what's next?
No comments:
Post a Comment