South Asia - Articles

Mounting global alarm over food scarcity and ballooning prices finally brought world leaders together at the recently concluded Rome Summit on 'World Food Security' organized by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) from 3 to 5 June. Over forty heads of state and government, representatives from over 180 countries, and leaders of international organizations and financial institutions came together to discuss the worsening global food crisis, which the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has described as 'a silent tsunami'.

Over the last few months, the world has witnessed a wave of rioting and protests against the spike in prices of food essentials from Cameroon, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco, Cambodia, Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Ethiopia, and most of sub-Saharan Africa, to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The situation in the Caribbean nation of Haiti, according to media reports, is so grim that a vast majority of Haitians are now feeding on cookies made of dried yellow dirt. On 6 June, this year, Pakistan witnessed its largest rally against soaring prices. Over 3000 activists and supporters of the Labour Party Pakistan (LPP), including trade unions, social movements, and peasant groups demonstrated in Lahore, while thousands others participated in similar protests across thirty cities in Pakistan.

World leaders have expressed concerns that if not contained; these protests could lead to riots which could spill over to other countries, creating an unprecedented threat to international peace and security. Speaking at the Global Agro Industries Forum (GAIF) in New Delhi in April this year, FAO Chief Jacques Diouf warned of the possibility of civil war in countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America owing to the shortage in food stocks and a crippling price rise. According to the World Bank Group estimates, nearly thirty three countries face potential social unrest. "For these countries", says World Bank President Robert Zoellick, "where food comprises from half to three quarters of consumption, there is no margin for survival."

The Rome Summit has been criticized for skirting crucial issues and the declaration adopted at the conclusion of the summit has been described by many as 'watered-down'. Among the several measures proposed to deal with the present crisis, the declaration exhorts governments of developed nations, aid and humanitarian agencies, and UN bodies to increase their assistance to those countries "most negatively affected by high food prices". It has also called for an increase in food production, further liberalization of agricultural trade, and greater investment in agriculture. Production of agro or biofuels, considered major contributors to dwindling food stocks and spiraling prices, however, have been let off the hook, with just a passing reference to the need for an 'in-depth study' to 'ensure that their production and use takes into account the need for global food security'.

The current food crisis is the cumulative result of several factors. Over six years of drought in Australia have led to a 98 per cent reduction in the country's rice production. This, in addition to the floods in North Korea last year, and years of low rainfall in western US - all of which are seen to have resulted from climate changes owing to global warming, have contributed to low crop yields globally.

Noted ecologist and activist, Vandana Shiva, pointing to larger structural changes in world agriculture as important causes for the food crisis, has held the trade liberalization policies of the IMF, World Bank, and WTO responsible for creating the present global food insecurity. Trading in food by speculators in the commodity futures markets have led to their earning record profits from the current surge in food prices. These factors help explain why countries such as Haiti, once self-sufficient in its rice production is now dependent on imports from world markets for its rice needs.

Additionally, the diversion of crops to the production of biofuels, predominantly in the US and Brazil, has meant lesser food grains in the global market. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington DC, biofuels are responsible for 'a quarter to a third' of the spike in commodity prices. While agrofuels are increasingly being denounced for the environmental damage they will cause, especially to rainforests, which are increasingly being cleared away to create greater spaces for palm oil plantations; the US continues to aggressively defend its agrofuel programme.

There is a crisis brewing and it threatens to push the poorest and most marginalized, especially those in the developing world, into abysmal poverty, since increased food prices have meant a significant weakening of their purchasing power. Unless governments, international organizations, and financial institutions take a good hard look at the underlying causes for the crisis and are willing to take concrete measures to enhance food security and make the present form of economic growth and development more sustainable, we might just witness the most devastating global crisis yet.