The food paradox

The Cost of Living is very much in the news these days due to the escalation of prices of several commodities. Although many are inclined to think that it is solely a local phenomenon, the truth is that it is a global one.

Both developing and developed countries are affected by this trend but it is the former group that suffers most. In fact, the Head of the UN Food Agency has stated that many poor people are unable to get enough food because of soaring prices partly caused by the use of food crops to produce biofuels.

The drive to use corn, soybeans, sugar cane and other crops to produce biofuels has led to less grain being available for food, driving up prices for basic foods in many countries. Some 100 million tons of cereals are being diverted to the production of biofuels each year.

“We’re seeing more people hungry and at greater numbers than before,” Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the Rome-based World Food Program (WFP), has said.

Higher oil prices are contributing to steeper food prices by boosting transport costs, and severe weather is also hitting many countries and hurting crop output, according to the WFP.

In a way, this is a paradoxical situation. Biofuels have been described as a ‘saviour’ for the poorer countries which depend on oil imports. It has also been seen a fillip for agriculture and environmental conservation. Ironically, the use of crops for biofuels has had a negative effect in the end, in the form of rising food prices.

Higher crude oil prices are another factor that most States cannot control, as the prices are dictated by OPEC. Sri Lanka’s fuel import bill is staggering and subsidies add a heavy burden to the exchequer. Every time fuel prices increase, transport costs and hence, food prices go up.

Weather is yet another factor over which we have no control. Floods, droughts, heavy rains destroy crops, creating a shortage which drives up prices. A shortage of arable lands, which are increasingly being used for construction purposes, has contributed to this status quo.

Food stocks are also down, the biggest such drop the world has seen since 1982. This is an alarming situation in terms of food security.

Again, poor countries in Asia and Africa will suffer the most. Incidentally, high economic growth has also been cited as a cause for the food price hike. Joachim von Braun, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, has cited rising demand from high economic growth as a prime reason.

The soaring population, coupled with an increased demand for food in a highly competitive economic environment can only make matters worse for the poor.

But is there a solution ? Economists have argued that food shortages could be eased by keeping borders open to trade, increasing global research in agriculture (to get higher yielding, disease resistant crop varieties) and creating special programmes to feed more young children.

Sri Lanka is among developing countries which have implemented the latter solution successfully. It also would help if biofuel makers focused on using plants that aren’t good for food as anything with cellulose can be used for such fuels.

Keeping borders open to trade will be essential to ease inequities in the world food order. High import tariffs imposed on food and other items from the Third World by Western countries stifle the former’s economic growth. We have heard of ‘butter mountains’ in affluent countries. What this illustrates in a figurative sense is the massive waste of food in some rich countries. Such waste has to be eliminated.

Waste is a problem in Sri Lanka as well. Many fruits and vegetables go waste in the post-harvest phase due to lack of proper transport and storage facilities. A mechanism should be evolved to reduce such losses and conserve fruits and vegetables for use outside the respective ‘seasons’.

Technology should be used to bring down food prices. If genetic modifications and other emerging technologies help us achieve this goal without harming nature itself, the world will see much less hunger.