G8 agriculture ministers yesterday (20 April) called for more food be grown to feed the world's hungry, given the lack of progress in tackling poverty and problems in balancing food supply with demand.
A global promise to ease hunger for millions had been worsened by the financial turmoil, while fears about global food security would continue due to price volatility and a delicate balance between supply and demand, the ministers declared.
They said public and private investment in sustainable farming and rural development needed to be increased, and called for increased support including investments in agricultural science, research, technology, education, extension services and innovation.
Protectionism
The ministers denounced the 'food protectionism' exercised by rich and poor countries alike in the form of export bans and import duties in farming, and stressed the importance of a rules-based international system for farm trade.
International organisations such as the World Food Programme have called for self-restraint in curbing exports, criticising export bans imposed by countries hit by rising prices which it says are impeding efforts to get food to the world's neediest.
While richer countries are keen to protect their markets - Russia, the largest importer of US chickens, aims to become self-sufficient in poultry and pork in two years, for example - many poorer countries reacted to 2008's spikes in food prices by slapping export bans on staple foods like rice and wheat.
Price volatility
But farmers also needed to be shielded from negative trade distortions and be allowed to produce nutritious food, ministers said, pledging to monitor factors causing price volatility in commodity markets, including the role of speculative trading.
"There should be monitoring and further analysis of factors potentially affecting price volatility in commodity markets, including speculation," the G8 farm ministers' statement said.
"We underline the importance of a rules-based international trading system for agricultural trade [and] wish to support the role of well functioning markets as a means for improving food security," it continued. The ministers also said renewable energy production from biomass should be increased, calling for policies to emphasise development and commercialisation of second-generation biofuels.
Global grain stocks
The ministers also outlined the merits of buffer grain stocks as an emergency food facility to ease price shocks and curb speculative commodity trading, and said they would ask international organisations to examine the "feasibility and administrative modalities" of a common stockholding system. But they fell short of specifying which commodity stocks might be involved.
"We call on the relevant international institutions to examine whether a system of stock holding could be effective in dealing with humanitarian emergencies or as a means of limiting price volatility," the statement added.
"In light of this outcome, it will be examined whether further steps should be envisaged and whether a consultation process should be established," it said.
'Land-grabbing'
The final declaration does not refer to the sensitive issue of 'land-grabbing'. A growing trend is for governments to invest in farm projects beyond their borders. Countries in the arid Gulf Arab region have blazed the trail, hoping to achieve greater food security and also spend less on major grain purchases. The phenomenon has, however, drawn sharp criticism for ignoring the interests of local populations.
The heads of two UN agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said cross-border farmland deals could be mutually beneficial and help boost global food security.
"I would not call it 'land-grabbing' [...] There is a potential for win-win situations," IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze said.
There was a risk of depriving poor farmers of access to farmland in their own countries when foreign investors moved in. But if the deals took both parties' interests into account, they could help raise farm production, exports and provide jobs, the officials said.
(EurActiv with Reuters.)
