Another summit has produced yet more pledges to cut world hunger. But if the outcome of the Food Security Summit looks familiar, the consequences must not be. Food prices are rising and the number of people worldwide who lack enough to eat is growing. This is no time for rhetoric and empty promises: Money may be the immediate balm, but a sustainable solution depends on real reform of global agriculture policies markets. To date, there is little reason for hope.
World food prices have risen 60 percent over the last 18 months, triggering riots in more than 30 countries.
World prices for wheat, maize and oilseed crops doubled between 2005 and 2007. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) calculates that more than $1 trillion will be spent globally to import food this year, a 26 percent rise over 2007. The burden falls heaviest on developing countries that devote a greater share of their income to basic goods: Costs could rise as much as 40 percent for the most economically vulnerable countries, forcing the world's poorest populations to spend more than half their income on food. There are signs that the steep price rises of the last year may subside, but the long-term trend is unmistakable: wheat could be 60 percent more expensive by 2017, and vegetable oils could jump 80 percent; beef and pork prices could be 20 percent higher by 2017.