Food for thought
Some food for thought comes from Joachim von Braun, who commented in the FT on the current extreme price increases for wheat, with wheat futures experiencing their steepest increase since 2008. According to von Braun, we might be observing the early stages of another global food-price crisis. While the crisis of 2007-08 was in part the consequence of long-term neglect of investment in agriculture in developing countries and poorly thought-out agriculture subsidising policies in industrialised countries, and triggered by adverse weather and exacerbated by inappropriate policies (such as export bans and hoarding by importing nations), von Braun also maintains that the setting of prices at the main international commodity exchanges was significantly influenced by speculation that boosted prices.
Given the vital importance of food prices for the bottom three billion, von Braun demands that food price volatility must be addressed at a global level. To end the the “financialisation” of food trade, it is essential to ensure open trade and transparent, appropriately regulated market institutions; excessive speculation in food commodities should be curbed. Von Braun demands that the costs of speculation for non-commercial traders should be raised, for example through capital deposits.
Since the number of undernourished people has already increased against the backdrop of economic recession, no further time should be wasted to respond to the first signs of a potential new food-price crisis. As von Braun writes, “action is overdue to establish a global architecture for policies on agriculture and food. The current system lacks accountability, effectiveness and innovation. Food and nutrition security should figure prominently at the upcoming G20 summit and the UN conference on the millennium goals. They must follow up where the G8 left an incomplete job.”
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Am 23. August 2010 um 21:50 Uhr
Kanayo F. Nwanze, the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, wrote an article for Project Syndicate on the infrastructure (and other) bottlenecks that African farmers face: “The Road to Food Security”, http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/nwanze3/English
Am 25. August 2010 um 11:31 Uhr
The FT’s Tony Jackson wrote another interesting comment on the role of speculation in commodity and food markets: “Speculators’ role turns serious when food is involved”, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/054d09c0-a88c-11df-86dd-00144feabdc0.html