UN study fears continuation of global food crisis
Saturday, 25 April 2009
FE Report
Any recovery from the current economic crisis will be incomplete if the related food crisis is not addressed, says a new UN study.
The report, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Asia and the Pacific, was launched Friday by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) - the regional arm of the United Nations (UN).
It says that for 583 million people across Asia and the Pacific, the financial crisis has become a food crisis. While food prices have fallen from last year's spike they remain high. Rising unemployment and falling incomes are putting additional pressure on the poor and vulnerable. More worrying still is that, once the global economy recovers, the pressures that drove up food prices last year will return.
"Efforts at stimulating the economies also provide us a window of opportunity to address the systemic issues related to food insecurity," said Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP. "This report reminds us that, while the world's attention is very much on the economic crisis, food insecurity remains a real threat. It details the scope and magnitude of the problem and provides both immediate and long-term policy recommendations to decision makers."
Despite the Asia-Pacific region's rapid economic growth, the region is home to the largest number of hungry people - 62 per cent of the world's undernourished. The ESCAP study identifies 25 countries as hotspots of food insecurity.
Even in countries which are seemingly doing well, national averages may mask disparities between different population groups. "In East Asia and the Pacific, for example, rural children are twice as likely to be underweight as their peers in the cities" says Dr. Heyzer. "In fact, the report states that the number of children under five dying of malnutrition in our region is equivalent to 10 jumbo jets filled with children crashing every day and killing everyone on board."
The study re-affirms that poverty is the leading cause of food insecurity. Inadequate income means the poor cannot afford to buy food. Lack of access to land also prevents many poor people from growing their own food. Other causes for food insecurity range from low farm revenues to volatile fuel prices and speculation.
Protectionist trade policies which drive up food prices is another cause of food insecurity in the region as most countries in Asia and the Pacific meet national needs through imports, the report says.
Ironically, agriculture itself is also a factor. Destructive farming practices have degraded land and contaminated waterways with pesticides and herbicides. Deforestation to open more farmland threatens watersheds, disrupts fisheries and reduces natural processes like pollination. Climate change, which threatens to significantly alter weather patterns, will have lasting detrimental impacts on agricultural output.
Any recovery from the current economic crisis will be incomplete if the related food crisis is not addressed, says a new UN study.
The report, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Asia and the Pacific, was launched Friday by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) - the regional arm of the United Nations (UN).
It says that for 583 million people across Asia and the Pacific, the financial crisis has become a food crisis. While food prices have fallen from last year's spike they remain high. Rising unemployment and falling incomes are putting additional pressure on the poor and vulnerable. More worrying still is that, once the global economy recovers, the pressures that drove up food prices last year will return.
"Efforts at stimulating the economies also provide us a window of opportunity to address the systemic issues related to food insecurity," said Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP. "This report reminds us that, while the world's attention is very much on the economic crisis, food insecurity remains a real threat. It details the scope and magnitude of the problem and provides both immediate and long-term policy recommendations to decision makers."
Despite the Asia-Pacific region's rapid economic growth, the region is home to the largest number of hungry people - 62 per cent of the world's undernourished. The ESCAP study identifies 25 countries as hotspots of food insecurity.
Even in countries which are seemingly doing well, national averages may mask disparities between different population groups. "In East Asia and the Pacific, for example, rural children are twice as likely to be underweight as their peers in the cities" says Dr. Heyzer. "In fact, the report states that the number of children under five dying of malnutrition in our region is equivalent to 10 jumbo jets filled with children crashing every day and killing everyone on board."
The study re-affirms that poverty is the leading cause of food insecurity. Inadequate income means the poor cannot afford to buy food. Lack of access to land also prevents many poor people from growing their own food. Other causes for food insecurity range from low farm revenues to volatile fuel prices and speculation.
Protectionist trade policies which drive up food prices is another cause of food insecurity in the region as most countries in Asia and the Pacific meet national needs through imports, the report says.
Ironically, agriculture itself is also a factor. Destructive farming practices have degraded land and contaminated waterways with pesticides and herbicides. Deforestation to open more farmland threatens watersheds, disrupts fisheries and reduces natural processes like pollination. Climate change, which threatens to significantly alter weather patterns, will have lasting detrimental impacts on agricultural output.