Food security

UN Committee on Food Security concludes on positive note

IATP's Sophia Murphy was in Rome last week for the Food and Agriculture's Committee on Food Security meeting. A version of this report also appeared on the Triple Crisis blog.

Volatile times discussed in Rome

I'm in Rome to talk about volatility (my powerpoint here). More precisely, the volatility in agricultural commodity markets and what can be done to a) mitigate it and b) better cope with its consequences.

Times they are a changing at the FAO

I'm writing from Rome, a beautiful city despite the cars. I'm attending the FAO's Committee on World Food Security, a once relatively sleepy piece of the sprawling UN system that last year was given a significant boost by a thorough revamp. Listening to the governments negotiate, agonizing over words (to launch or to discuss? To endorse or to notice?

Who benefits from volatility?

By nearly all accounts, agriculture prices worldwide have entered a new era of volatility. Earlier this year, wheat prices shot up an additional $3 a bushel over two months due in large part to concerns around a wheat export ban in Russia.

What Next on Food Reserves?

The public debate on food reserves is shifting from an ideological discussion about markets versus public action to one focusing on the technical, political and institutional feasibility of a system of food reserves.

Food Reserves In Practice

Growing government interest and support for food reserves has been evident in various international forums of late. At the same time, policymakers have been slow to act, reluctant to move away from twenty or more years of economic orthodoxy that has insisted supply shocks are best resolved through international trade alone.

WTO Rules and Food Reserves

World Trade Organization (WTO) rules governing agriculture do not actually make the operation of a grain reserve impossible, but they do create uncertainties. It is time for governments to think again about the framework for agricultural trade rules. 1. Financing a Reserve

Why We Need Food Reserves

The recent food price crisis had devastating consequences for world hunger. During the peak of the crisis, from March 2007 to March 2008, the global price of rice increased 74 percent (most of that in a few weeks); the price of wheat more than doubled, rising 130 percent during the same period.

Global food funds necessary, but not enough

The Obama administration continues to push for new investments to end global hunger. As part of that effort, Bloomberg news reports that the U.S.

NAFTA dumping on Mexican farmers

One of the most dramatic effects of deregulated trade has been an increase in agriculture dumping. In agriculture, dumping takes place when an agribusiness firm exports a crop—say, corn—at a price that is below what it costs the farmer to produce it.

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