For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be earthquakes in divers places and there shall be famines and troubles these are the beginnings of sorrows .1
Since eternity, food security has been of utmost importance for human beings. Be it struggling against the mammoths in pre-historic age or agriculture in the Neolithic age, man has always struggled for food and survived. And even today in the 21st century the mankind is facing a food crisis which is affecting everyone, the developed countries like the USA and Japan, the developing countries like India and the underdeveloped African countries. It is taking inflation to unbearable levels and making life miserable for a large number of people in the third world countries.
Who is responsible for all this? World leaders have been blaming each other, claiming different issues as the reason, but in this blame game is anyone looking for a sustainable solution to the grave problem?
The very basic reason for the food crisis is not the shortage of food but the dramatic increase in the food prices and the causes for the same can be attributed to numerous factors which are collectively responsible. A phased analysis of the food crisis can be carried out by studying the roles and policy decisions taken by India, USA, the EU and their effect on common man.
Indians were outraged when the US commented on the increase in consumption by Indian middle class. Being traditionally vegetarian Indians have low per capita consumption than the US. But India is indeed to blame, but for different reasons. It is among the 40 countries that have curbed food exports to control domestic prices. Hence the food supply in world market has shrunk, fuelling the prices. Actually there is no food shortage, according to FAO2 statistics the world cereal production was record high at 2108 million tonnes in 2007.
The European Union has aggressively pushed its bio-fuel programme despite warnings from scientists and researchers. Britain went through implementation of the legislation which said that 2.5% of all gasoline and diesel sold must be derived from crops.
USA increased its production of bio-fuel from corn manifolds in recent times. With India curbing exports, South Asian rice exporting countries forming an alliance OREC (Organisation of Rice Exporting Countries) and collectively negotiating at their terms and given the consumers’ preference for aromatic varieties of rice, Basmati (India) and Jasmine (Thailand) the rice prices in the US have increased.
The above cited factors just make the tip of an iceberg. Actually there are multiple factors that have contributed to rising food prices. The increasing crude prices have led to diversion from production of food crops (particularly maize) to produce bio-fuel. Increasing population and demand particularly from India and China contribute to making the problem severe in the long run. Apart from these there are flawed government policies which have adversely affected the market dynamics.
Realising the graveness of the crisis, what we need to do is to look for a sustainable solution for the entire world. A person suffering in Africa is no different from an Indian. The governments ought to act collectively and responsibly for the betterment of mankind. It is indeed high time to act or the world might just see another World War for food security.
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