FOR ARCHIVAL NEWS ON GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY, PLEASE VISIT THE "NEWS WATCH" PAGE FOR EACH OF THE GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY CONFERENCES
NOVEMBER 2011
November 8, 2011
A HUNGER FOR SUCCESS - ON A WORLD SCALE
More food will be consumed in the next 50 years than in the rest of the history of humanity.On the one hand, the world's population has reached 7 billion people and will grow to 9 billion or more within 30 years. But on the other, the incomes enjoyed by these new populations are growing more rapidly than ever.As the demand for food climbs with population and income, Canada - uniquely positioned with its vast tracts of arable land, abundant water, infrastructure, and experience in the sector - faces a huge opportunity to feed the world. And yet Canadian agriculture and agri-food businesses are not only failing to maintain their share of world markets, but are falling behind.
Read more in The Gazette
OCTOBER 2011
TACKLING HUNGER WEIGHTY TASK
When McGill University assembled panels of international experts to discuss world food stability at a three-day conference last week, the goal was to arrive at answers. However, speeches and panels at the conference mainly illustrated how vast and intractable the problem seems to be. Close to a billion people are considered chronically food insecure and the number is growing by tens of millions because of drought in the Horn of Africa and a 33 percent spike in food prices. International agency officials offered hope that jargon-filled processes and plans about collaboration and government investment would make a difference. There were some reports or predictions of progress.
Western Producer
ECONOMIC WOES COULD FORCE CHANGES TO AID
International cooperation minister Bev Oda is warning that international economic turbulence could limit the world’s ability or willingness to respond to a growing world hunger crisis.That will definitely be the case in Canada. “The government has undertaken an exercise to reduce the deficit,” Oda said.
Western Producer
VOLATILE FOOD PRICES SHUTTING DOWN TRADE TALKS
Volatile world food prices did more than drive millions into poverty and hunger, says an agricultural economist.They have also helped bog down World Trade Organization negotiations, says former senior Agriculture Canada economist Douglas Hedley.“What the 2008 spike showed us is we can’t trust trade,” he said Oct. 5 during a McGill University conference on global food security.
Western Producer
JUST PUBLISHED: The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2011 highlights the differential impacts that the world food crisis of 2006-08 had on different countries, with the poorest being most affected.This year’s report describes the effects of price volatility on food security and presents policy options to reduce volatility in a cost-effective manner and to manage it when it cannot be avoided. The report focuses also on the dangers and opportunities presented by high food prices. Climate change and an increased frequency of weather shocks, increased linkages between energy and agricultural markets due to growing demand for biofuels, and the increased financialization of food and agricultural commodities all suggest that price volatility is here to stay.
Read more ...
AUGUST 1, 2011
FOOD CRISIS IN ASIA
As the global population rises, farmers, particularly in developing countries, are coming under pressure to increase their crop yields to meet growing demand. D J Clark looks at the problems facing farmers and consumers in different parts of Asia, and examines some of the possible solutions.
Read more
JULY 18, 2011
ALBERTA HAS MUCH TO OFFER A THIRSTY PLANET
Flooding and water scarcity are probably the biggest issues facing the developing world, and the situation will only worsen as the global population grows and climate change intensifies. That was part of the message noted scientist Chandra Madramootoo brought to this year’s Water, Agriculture and the Environment conference in Lethbridge.
Read article
JUNE 23, 2011
G20 ACTION PLAN
G20 REPORT ON FOOD PRICE VOLATILITY
JUNE 4, 2011
A Warming Planet Struggles to Feed Itself
Now, the latest scientific research suggests that a previously discounted factor is helping to destabilize the food system: climate change. Many of the failed harvests of the past decade were a consequence of weather disasters, like floods in the United States, drought in Australia and blistering heat waves in Europe and Russia. Scientists believe some, though not all, of those events were caused or worsened by human-induced global warming. Temperatures are rising rapidly during the growing season in some of the most important agricultural countries, and a paper published several weeks ago found that this had shaved several percentage points off potential yields, adding to the price gyrations.
Read more in the New York Times
JUNE 1, 2011
WHEN THE NILE RUNS DRY
A NEW scramble for Africa is under way. As global food prices rise and exporters reduce shipments of commodities, countries that rely on imported grain are panicking. Affluent countries like Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China and India have descended on fertile plains across the African continent, acquiring huge tracts of land to produce wheat, rice and corn for consumption back home.
Read more in the New York Times
MAY 31, 2011
Broken food system and environmental crises spell hunger for millions. Oxfam launches global GROW campaign
A broken food system and environmental crises are now reversing decades of progress against hunger according to new Oxfam analysis. Spiralling food prices and endless cycles of regional food crises will create millions more hungry people unless we transform the way we grow and share food. Tomorrow, Oxfam launches a new global campaign to ensure everyone has enough to eat always.
Read more
MAY 11, 2011
CUTTING FOOD WASTE TO FEED THE WORLD
Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted, according to an FAO-commissioned study.
FAO Study - GLOBAL LOSSES AND FOOD WASTE
May 1, 2011
THE EVOLVING GLOBAL GOVERNANCE OF FOOD SECURITY
Paper by Matias E. Margulis, McMaster University
Department of Political Science/Department Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
While food security has become a major issue in global governance following the 2007-2008 global food crisis, there is no single international institution responsible for the management of this issue. Instead, responsibility for food security is spread out among a number of international organizations, which causes an overlap of rules and norms. This is a major challenge to achieving global policy coherence on food security and making progress on the eradication of world hunger. This research paper argues that a more effective governance regime for food security requires mechanisms to promote greater internal policy coherence within states and between multiple international institutions.
Paper is available from the Social Science Research Network (SSRN)
April 26, 2011
IFPRI 2020 VISION CONFERENCE - CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health (PDF file)
Watch video on YouTube
Watch mini documentary on YouTube
April 18, 2011
LES PRIX D'ALIMENTS EXPLOSE
Établissons une chose dès le départ: pour une fois, le mot «explosion» — qu'on a parfois tendance à saupoudrer un peu facilement — n'est probablement pas trop fort. Les prix des denrées, qui ont nourri les révoltes populaires au Moyen-Orient, sont nettement à la hausse. Quelques exemples en vrac: le prix du blé est de 63 % supérieur à son niveau de mars 2010, celui du maïs a bondi de 83 %, la livre de café est passée de 1,30 $ à plus de 2,70 $... «Le stress va continuer, même avec de bonnes récoltes», a dit récemment Pascal Thériault, agroéconomiste et professeur à l'Université McGill. D'ici 2025, selon lui, 200 millions de personnes dans les pays du BRIC — Brésil, Russie, Inde et Chine — vont gagner au moins 15 000 $ par année. Et logiquement, ils vont manger de plus en plus de viande.
Le Devoir
April 14, 2011
High and Volatile Food Prices Continue to Threaten the World’s Poor
Driven in part by higher fuel costs connected to events in the Middle East and North Africa, global food prices are 36 percent above their levels a year ago and remain volatile, pushing people deeper into poverty, according to new World Bank Group numbers released today.“More poor people are suffering and more people could become poor because of high and volatile food prices,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick. “We have to put food first and protect the poor and vulnerable, who spend most of their money on food.”
Read more...
Food prices: World Bank warns millions face poverty
The World Bank has warned that rising food prices, driven partly by rising fuel costs, are pushing millions of people into extreme poverty. World food prices are 36% above levels of a year ago, driven by problems in the Middle East and North Africa, and remain volatile, the bank said. That has pushed 44 million people into poverty since last June.
Read more ... on BBC News
March 3, 2011
World food prices hit record high: UN
Global food prices reached new highs in February, a United Nations food agency said Thursday, warning that oil price spikes could provoke further increases.
Read and view more on CBC News
February 26, 2011
The 9 billion-people question A special report on feeding the world
The Economist
February 18, 2011
UN food experts call for increased agricultural investment to offset soaring prices
Faced with soaring food prices for the second time in three years, senior United Nations experts today called for greater investment in agriculture from both the public and private sectors to increase smallholder productivity.
Read more on this and other related topics on the United Nations website
February 15, 2011
A new menu for food investors
Harsh weather is disrupting food supply around the world just as a rising middle class in emerging markets and a burgeoning biofuels industry put extra demand on farmers. In this turmoil, investors see opportunity. Futures contracts for coffee, sugar, corn and wheat have rocketed more than 50 per cent since last summer, and financial institutions are responding with new funds that offer ways to bet on rising food prices.
Read more in The Globe and Mail
January 25, 2011
The Future of Food and Farming: Challenges and choices for global sustainability
The Government Office for Science, London.
January 21, 2011
The G20’s next project: Solve global crisis of unstable food prices
Even as the G20 wrestles with the aftermath of the financial crisis, the group of global powers is preparing to tackle another of the world's most urgent issues – wild swings in food prices. Volatile commodity prices have wreaked havoc in the developing world, threatening food supplies in some countries and creating sharp inflation in others.
Read more in The Globe and Mail
DECEMBER 2010
December 2, 2010
Climate change threatens food supply
Un meeting warned of shortages. Invest in agriculture in poor countries now to help farmers cope later, report urges.
Read more in the Montreal Gazette
NOVEMBER 2010
Radio Interviews with conference participants
Dr. David Nabarro interview on CBC Radio Noon
Dr. David Nabarro interview on Radio Canada International
Barbara Burlingame interview on Radio Canada International
Victoria Quinn on Radio Canada International
Panel discussion with Bart Schultz, Sam Asiedu and Sam Gameda on Radio Canada International
Eugene Terry interview on Radio Canada International
Dyno Keatinge on Radio Canada International
Grace Marquis on Radio Canada International
Global Food Security Conference articles in The Western Producer:
Nutrition vital factor in solving hunger issues
UN praises Canada's foreign aid commitment
Hunger goals realistic?
FAO takes heat for alleged biotech bias
Crisis looms in Artctic: expert
Articles of interest
Solving the food crisis - On an ocean planet
Turning to the sea
Will the oceans help feed humanity?