Global Approach Required to Tackle Food Prices

Warnings about climate change, biofuels, use of agricultural land for other purposes and the herd mentality of the financial markets have been ample over the past year. Still, food shortages, rising prices and the resulting humanitarian crisis have come as a surprise for some governments. The managing director of the International Monetary Fund calls for immediate global planning. “Unless we act now, the world faces a downward spiral of trade restrictions, higher prices for staples and starvation,” writes Dominique Strauss-Khan for the Financial Times. “No one should forget that all countries rely on open trade to feed their populations.” Hoarding food stocks, nationalist policies and unequal subsidies contribute to the price hikes. Strauss-Khan calls for global cooperation and planning, including approval of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization, which would reduce trade barriers for agricultural products. – YaleGlobal