The food crisis: national and global challenges

This short paper considers what steps need to be taken to address the recent food crisis. It argues that, while emergency measures such as the ones by the World Food Programme have to be supported, it is essential to investigate the nature, the root causes, and the long term solutions of the food crisis. In particular, the author argues that the crux of the problem is the inability of supply to match demand, and that there is a need to take action to boost food production.<br /><br />The paper provides an overview of the impact of the food crisis and highlights some of the responses of different countries. These include:<br /> Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam have tried to impose controls over exports of rice to increase domestic supplies India has imposed a ban on the exports of non Basmati rice, maize and pulses, sharply curbed import duties on wheat and vegetable oils, and offered farmers greater incentives to increase rice production by raising the price per tonne of rice China has taken steps to ban exports of wheat and leased land in other countries (eg Russia) to enable it to produce food for its domestic market African countries, many of whom are net food and oil importers, face critical problems due to inability to increase their food production in the short run. They require urgent financial help from the IMF to finance their imports. <br />In the immediate term, the paper highlights that the focus is on emergency food aid and urgent financial support to meet high food import bill so as not to adversely worsen the balance of payments. In the medium-long term, however, it argues that resolving imbalances in demand and supply of food call for devising policies at the national, the regional and the international level.<br /><br />Key recommendations include:<br /> increasing agricultural productivity has to be a key goal. This should be based on integrating inputs and outputs - through the supply of high yielding varieties of seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation, supported by credit alongside remunerative output prices agriculture has to be given its due importance in overall development, through increased expenditure on public investment for irrigation, infrastructure and marketing agricultural subsidies in developed countries should be curbed to allow developing countries access to their markets. At the same time developing countries should be allowed to adopt temporary measures to protect their agriculture, for example through aid for trade.<br />