Tag: Food security

Starvation is a symptom of a larger problem involving land, health, power and ecological damage, writes the Guardian, content partner of EurActiv’s Development Policy section.

The livelihood of millions of vulnerable communities already depends on the availability of simple foodstuffs, and now climate change is further threatening that precarious existence, say four top opinion-makers.

Droughts in southern and eastern Europe are contributing to the global decline in grain production while also elevating concern about the long-term impact on freshwater supplies.

Climate change cut global wheat and corn output by more than 3% over the past three decades compared to growth projections without a rise in temperatures, a study found on Friday. The impacts translated into up to 20% higher average commodity prices, before accounting for other factors, according to the paper published in the journal Science.

The world faces a severe food security crisis as a result of climate change, soil erosion and population growth. Food security is a much greater threat to national security than armed aggression, Lester Brown told EurActiv in this exclusive interview on the fringes of the 'Forum for the Future of Agriculture'.

France is pushing for an enlarged role for the United Nations' food and agriculture agency (FAO) to help tackle market tensions that are fuelling high commodity prices and social unrest for the second time in three years. The French authorities have been promoting greater regulation of commodity markets as a cornerstone of France's presidency of the G20 in 2011.

France said on Thursday its proposals for tighter controls on commodity trading were being well received in many G20 countries, and it issued a joint statement with Brazil on measures to curb food price volatility.

A EU-World Bank analysis of the causes of the 2007-2008 food price crisis blames energy prices and financial speculators for the hikes, downplaying the role of biofuels and increased demand in developing countries.

Growing demand from emerging markets and biofuel production are expected to drive up farm commodity prices leading to increased food insecurity, warns the latest outlook on global agricultural markets.

Food security assistance to developing countries should focus on supporting small-scale food production and farmers, EU development ministers said yesterday (10 May).

Sustainable agricultural practices play a crucial role in ensuring both environmental and food security, as farmers manage up to 50% of EU land, participants in an agriculture forum stressed yesterday (16 March).

An increasingly competitive global livestock sector is threatening to put smallholders in poor countries out of business and poses a risk to the livelihoods and food security of a billion people, argues a new report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

A new tax on junk food products will be introduced as of March 2010 in Romania, the proceeds of which will go on health programmes, EurActiv Romania reports. The move appears to set a worldwide precedent.

Inaction to halt speculation on agricultural commodities and continued biofuels policies is paving the way for a re-run of the 2008 food price crisis in 2010 or 2011, argues Olivier De Schutter, the UN's special rapporteur on the right to food, in an interview with EurActiv.

Surging demand for rice and pork has increased pressure on China's food production infrastructure, but Beijing is confident it can feed the world's most populous nation.

Liberalising global agricultural trade without any regulation would threaten global food security as private investment funds would buy huge amounts of land in developing countries and produce for a profit rather than to feed the poor, warned Jacques Carles, founder of French think tank Momagri. 

The European Union should resist the temptation to cut support for its common agricultural policy and instead give farmers the right tools to increase food production in Europe, EU Farm Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel told EurActiv in an interview.

Developing countries can buck the hunger trend with the right policies and investments, says a new UN Food and Agrcultural Organisation (FAO) report published ahead of next week's World Summit on Food Security.