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WITH
food riots occurring in some parts of the world because
of soaring food prices, the United Nations’ Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) appealed to donors and
international financing institutions such as the World
Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to rechannel
their aid to initiatives that enable countries to
increase food production.
The FAO
made the appeal in light of its latest projection that
the bill of countries importing cereal will go up by 56
percent this year—and amid its increasing concern over
reported food riots in Egypt, Cameroon, Cote d’ Ivoire,
Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Madagascar
and Haiti in the past month.
The UN
unit noted that in
Pakistan
and Thailand, Army troops have been deployed to avoid
food from being seized from the fields and from
warehouses.
Apparently, television footage of people arguing in
queues for cheaper government rice have also given out
the impression that there are food riots in the
Philippines. The FAO cited the Philippines as one
country where food riots have been observed.
To
arrest the continuous climb in food prices and calm
social unrest, FAO appealed to all donors and
international financing institutions to increase their
assistance or consider reprogramming part of their
ongoing aid in countries negatively affected by high
food prices.
A
tentative estimate of the additional funding required by
governments to implement country projects and programs
for dealing with soaring food prices ranges between $1.2
billion and $1.7 billion.
The
release of these funds can provide important support for
poor farmers, including access to inputs and assets, to
enhance the food supply response in the next
agricultural seasons.
The FAO
noted that prices of bread, rice, maize products, milk,
oil, soybeans and other basic foods have increased
sharply in recent months in a number of developing
countries, despite policy measures—including export
restrictions, subsidies, tariff reductions and price
controls—taken by governments of both cereal-importing
and -exporting countries to limit the impact of
international prices on domestic food markets.
High
prices are not expected to ease up in the near future
even as the FAO had first forecast world cereal
production in 2008 to increase by 2.6 percent to a
record 2.164 million metric tons (MMT). The bulk of the
increase is expected in wheat, following significant
expansion in plantings in major producing countries.
Still,
the FAO said much would depend on the weather, recalling
that at this time last year, prospects for cereal
production in 2007 were far better than the eventual
outcome. As it is, unfavorable climatic conditions
devastated crops in Australia and reduced harvests in
many other countries, particularly in
Europe.
Favorable climatic conditions will be even more critical
in the new season because world cereal reserves are
depleted,” the report said.
According to the FAO’s forecast, world cereal stocks are
expected to fall to a 25-year low of 405 MMT in 2007-08,
down 21 MMT, or 5 percent, from their already reduced
level of the previous year. “Any major shortfalls
resulting from unfavorable weather, particularly in
exporting countries, would prolong the current tight
market situation; contribute to more price rallies and
exacerbate the economic hardship already facing many
countries,” the report said.
The FAO
also noted that worldwide, 37 countries are currently
facing food crises.
Meanwhile, FAO’s Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP)
offers technical and policy assistance to poor countries
affected by high food prices in order to help vulnerable
farmers to increase local food production.
The FAO
seeks to help governments prepare actions and strategies
to increase agricultural production.
In
collaboration with the World Food Programme, Ifad and
other partners, FAO will enlarge its food
market-information system to pull together and analyze
various data sources at local, national and
international levels and to disseminate this
information. FAO has allocated $17 million for these
activities. |
