Feeding hunger and insecurity

1. IntroductionBox 1: Key MessagesThe crisis is not over. Even though globalfood prices are falling, local prices havecontinued to increase or have remained attheir inflated level in most vulnerable countries,putting millions of people at risk.Despite no clear global increase in acutemalnutrition, high prices consistently forcedfamilies to adopt damaging coping strategiesto maintain staple food consumption;‘seasonality’ shows that this can have longtermimplications for poverty, vulnerabilityand malnutrition.Context matters; urgent funding is neededto translate global policy into effective, targetedresponses addressing the needs ofthose most affected and most vulnerable.Interventions must be inclusive, coordinatedand comprehensive, addressing bothagricultural production and nutrition in tandem,both in the short and long-run at theglobal, national and local level.“Cheap no more” is the resounding conclusion presentedby the International Financial Institutions(Buntrock 2007). Dependable sources of cheap foodare at an end after a decade of low prices. In early2008, especially rapid price rises led to riots in over30 countries (see figure 1.2 overleaf) and increasedmedia attention, sparking an international frenzy andcalls for action. Reports on the various dimensionsand impacts of the food price rises began to materialise.Combating hunger and reinvigorating agricultureresurfaced as global priorities.At the peak of the Global Food Price ‘Crisis’,grain prices soared on international markets - aton of wheat cost US$461; rice US$1,038; maizeUS$311.11 (FAO 2008b). High food costs were compoundedby a record nominal price of oil (reachingUS$147 a barrel) adding further strain to many developingeconomies (Energy Information Administration2008). While prices have since dropped (seefigure 1.1), experts continue to debate whether foodprices will return to their initial low levels or not (AL-NAP 2008); recent evidence from the World FoodProgramme (WFP 2008b) shows that amongst thethirty-six most vulnerable countries, prices at the nationallevel have continued to rise in ten, remainedat their inflated level in twenty-two and have onlyfallen in four. The crisis is not over for the millions ofpoor people going hungry, and we must strive to findsolutions immediately.UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon stresses thathigh food prices represent a significant threat toachieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)(Hough 2008) – particularly to MDG 1 and 4, eradicatingextreme poverty and hunger and reducing childmortality. The Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO 2008d) estimates that the high cost of food haspushed the number of people suffering from hungerfrom 850 million in 2005 to 963 million today. Similarly,the World Bank (2008a) warned last April thatFigure 1.1: FAO food price indices (January 2007 – December 2008)350300FAO Food Prices IndexIndexed price250200150100Crude oil (normal price)Wheat (index based on US Gulfprice, baseline Jan 2007)Rice (FAO index)500Jan-07Mar-07May-07Jul-07Sept-07Nov-07Jan-08Mar-08May-08Jul-08Sept-08Nov-08Maize (index based on US Gulfprice, baseline Jan 2007)Source: FAO 2008b; EnergyInformation Administration 20082ACF International NetworkFeeding Hunger and Insecurity