Soaring food prices and the resultant scarcity of important food items are believed to have been the breaking point behind the recent revolution in Egypt, and if a study undertaken by Oxfam International is to be believed, then these problems could soon spiral into a global crisis.
The 76 page report compiled by Oxfam has made the following findings:
1. Prices of staple foods will more than double in the next 20 years unless world leaders act now to avert climate change and reform the global food system.
2. Importantly, the cost of key grains such as maize—an essential dietary component in the world's least-developed continent, Africa—could rise by as much as 180%, with more than half of this rise due to the degrading effects of climate change.
3. Other factors, including rising oil prices, the increasing diversion of crops for biofuels and scarcity of water are also expected to make the forecast 70% rise in production needed by 2050 to feed the world's population even harder to meet.
The May edition of the National Geographic weighed into rising food crisis concerns with a reminder that our already stretched resources would soon need to cope with a population of 7 billion people. The magazine stated that in 2009 alone 52 billion chickens, 2.6 billion ducks, 1.3 billion pigs, 518 million sheep and 293 million cows were killed for food.
According to Emily Rauhlala, writing for Time.com, Oxfam recommend a complete overhaul of the current global food system to meet these needs, including placing a limit “on trading in agricultural futures (which they link to price jumps), ending the disproportionate influence of agro-businesses, and curbing subsidies for biofuels (which they credit with a move toward growing fuel over food).”
Rauhlala also states: “Though radical change seems unlikely at present, the Oxfam report comes at a good time. Food factored heavily in this winter's revolutions and prices are rising in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Those unmoved by the plain fact of hunger, may well see the wisdom of heeding the Spanish proverb of which [Julian] Cribb is fond: Lo que separa la civilización de la anarquía son solo siete comidas. 'Civilization and anarchy are only seven meals apart.'
(The full report can be found on www.oxfam.org. The image is from grain.org).