UN REPORT
:: FEEDING THE WORLD :: OCTOBER
2010
Almost a billion people are suffering from chronic hunger because they
are too poor to purchase sufficient food. Over-population is often cited as a
reason for this humanitarian disaster. Tragically, world hunger exists in a
world of plenty. Food has never existed in such abundance. There is enough food
available to feed the entire global population of almost 7 billion people. In
fact, despite a 70% population increase over the past 30 years, agriculture
globally is producing 17% more calories per person today than it was in 1980.
Hunger also exists in rich countries like the United States where millions of
families go hungry. This is not due to there being insufficient food.
Basically, the problem is poverty and the volatility of food prices.
Food, like any other product in a market economy is a commodity; farming
is a business. Large tracts of the best agricultural land are often devoted to
cultivation of monoculture cash crops such as coffee, tobacco, and cotton,
responding to market demand rather than feeding poor people. For example, over
half the grain produced in the United States is used for livestock feed,
despite the fact that it would feed more people than the livestock to which it
is fed. This process is aggravated by the fact that some developing countries
like China, with an increasing middle class, wish to purchase meat. Also, many
farmers produce crops for export as well as for bio-fuel. More corn is grown
for bio fuel than staple foods such as wheat and rice. This had led to shortages
in staple foods, leading to higher market prices.
The problem becomes more difficult due to United States farm subsidies,
which topped U.S. $15 billion last year. The surpluses of the United States and
other countries are often dumped in underdeveloped countries, undermining the
abilities of local farmers to compete.
What about technology? In the
early 1980s, Dr. Borlaugh introduced the Green Revolution with new miracle
seeds. Thanks to these new seeds millions of more grain were harvested, and
many more people were fed. However, these crops are more vulnerable to disease
and need a number of expensive inputs such as irrigation, petrochemical
fertilizers, and pesticides. The Green Revolution modernized better-off farmers
to the detriment of the poor who could not afford the expensive inputs. Another
technology with real controversial possibility is genetically altered food. So
far, no studies have found problems, but there has been no long-term research
conducted. The jury on GMOs is still out, considering this open question.
The volatility of food prices can be devastating to poor people. A
notorious example is the bubble created in 2008 by the financial institution
Goldman Sachs. They devised a complicated financial instrument called a
Commodity Index of many food products. Many banks pumped money into buying
futures in food products. In the frenzy of futures trading, prices quickly
escalated and multiplied ten-fold in 3 years. In 2008 the major food
conglomerate Cargill announced an 86% increase in profits due to commodity
trading. Many investors made a bushel of money without ever seeing an actual
bushel of wheat. The end result was an increase in starvation in the world.
In the first eight months of 2010, U.S. agricultural exports increased,
corn prices rose and the price of wheat almost doubled. Recently, Cargill
stated that thanks to price volatility their profits rose significantly. Since
the 1980s the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have
championed deregulation of the world's food markets. The effect could be
devastating..
What about the United Nations? There are two U.N. agencies involved with
food and agriculture. One is the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), who
offer development assistance and expert advice. In 2006 for example the FAO had
1,600 field projects. Another U.N. agency is the World Food Program (WFP) which
is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The WFP
saves lives by getting food to the hungry--quickly. In 2010, the Program
brought food assistance to 90 million people in 73 countries.