Food Prices Worldwide Rise Alarmingly

[Hootad Binky]

The World's Growing Food-Price Crisis

Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008

People push to receive food distributed by the Kenyan
Red Cross in the Mathare slum in Nairobi.

Soaring prices of staples — which have risen about 75% since 2005, driven by growing demand, rising oil prices and the effects of global warming — have sparked riots in several countries, as people reel from sticker shock and governments scramble to feed their people.

Crowds tore through three cities in the West African nation of Burkina Faso late last week, burning government buildings and looting stores; when officials tried to talk peace with one group of protesters, the enraged crowd hurled stones at them. The riots followed similar violent protests over food prices in Senegal and Mauritania earlier this year. And, last October, protesters in India burned hundreds of food-ration stores after stockpiles emptied, leaving thousands of people unfed.

Governments might succeed in quashing the protests, but lowering food prices could be far tougher and will likely take years, according to analysts who track global food consumption. The Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute, or IFPRI, said last December that high prices are unlikely to fall soon, partly because world food stocks are being squeezed by soaring demand. The wild ride in agricultural markets has attracted intense speculation among investors, with billions of dollars being poured into commodities markets. On Monday, the price of wheat shot up about 25% on the Chicago Board of Trade, after officials in Khazakstan announced plans to restrict exports of their giant wheat crop in order to ensure the food supply to their own citizens. Russian officials have also said they are planning to restrict grain exports.

For the world's poorest people, the price rises are already proving devastating, since the speed at which prices have risen has wrought havoc on government relief programs. Earlier this month, a top official at the U.S. Agency for International Development admitted that in order to meet current targets, it had been forced to skim off funds from future food-aid programs, worth about $120 million.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that millions more people who were previously earning enough to feed their families can now no longer afford the food in their local stores, and are now swelling the ranks of those expecting relief from aid organizations. "We are seeing a new face of hunger," the executive director of U.N.'s World Food Program, Josette Sheeran, told TIME on Tuesday. "People who were not in the urgent category are now moving into that category." The organization currently feeds about 73 million people, including millions who get by on just 50 cents a day. After hosting a series of emergency meetings with international organizations and food experts this month at WFP's Rome headquarters, Sheeran said the organization has concluded that food prices will remain high for years. She announced on Monday that the organization might have to cut its relief programs unless it raises an extra $500 million this year. "There is no way we can absorb a 25% price rise in one day and the volatility of the markets," Sheeran said.

One factor driving up the cost of food is the rocketing price of oil, which raises agricultural costs of everything from fertilizer to transport and shipping. Like the oil price, the cost of food is responding, in part, to the burgeoning demand in China and India, where rising incomes allow people to eat bigger meals, and to buy meat far more frequently. That, in turn, has helped to squeeze the world's supply of grain, since it takes about six pounds of animal feed to produce a pound of meat.

Then there is climate change: Harvests have been seriously disrupted by freak weather, including prolonged droughts in Australia and southern Africa, floods in West Africa, and deep frost in China and Europe. And the push to produce biofuels to replace hydrocarbons is also adding to the pressure on food supplies — generous U.S. subsidies for ethanol has gobbled up needed food acreage, as farmers switch from producing food. "The area used for biofuels is increasing each year," says Nik Bienkowski, head of research at ETF Securities, a commodities trading firm in London.

The food price rises are not bad news for everyone, says Bienkowski, who estimates that his company took in about $2 billion worth of investments last year. And millions of farmers whose income has languished through years of cheap food are now earning well.

"U.S. and British farmers are laughing all the way to the bank," says Simon Maxwell, director of the London-based Overseas Development Institute, an independent think tank. "And some poor people will get jobs on farms or in local communities." Yet those people will need to buy food, whose prices are rising far faster than wages. With relief agencies struggling to feed the hungry and the shelves in Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Senegal and many other countries in the developing world stocked with food many locals can no longer afford, the prospects for chaos are steadily growing.

cost of food - Google News

[chinthee]

I was going to post this yesterday in the financial thread, crude oil or inflation threads, but I think it might be more relevant here. Basic commodity costs are rising, and it looks like a tough year.

--
MARKET WATCH: Crude price nears $104/bbl
Sam Fletcher
Senior Writer
HOUSTON, Mar. 4 -- Worries about possible inflation, a slowdown in US spending, and deterioration of the US dollar pushed oil and gold prices to new highs Mar. 3 as investors put their money into commodities.

The April contract for benchmark US sweet, light crudes topped out at $103.95/bbl in intraday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold closed at a record $981.50/oz on NYMEX's Comex division.

Chakib Khelil, president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said it's unlikely that group would vote to boost production to push down crude prices at their Mar. 5 meeting in Vienna, especially since global demand for crude historically is reduced in the second quarter of each year. The average price for OPEC's basket of 12 reference crudes increased 76¢ to $97.26/bbl on Mar. 3.
Meanwhile, Royal Dutch Shell PLC has lifted the force majeure on shipments of its Forcados and Bonny crudes from Nigeria. "Until the next militancy attack there will be more oil flowing from West Africa, and with its higher light-end yields it will have more of an impact than any increase from Saudi Arabia," said Olivier Jakob at Petromatrix, Zug, Switzerland.
"The dollar index might be at record low, but US retail gasoline prices are at record high," Jakob said. "Middle distillates continue to dominate the show, but reformulated blend stock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) is falling to a deeper discount to heating oil. This is a very unusual change of relative values for the season and will continue to push for maximum distillate yields."
Jakob said, "There has been no overall oil demand growth in the US for the last 3 years. And this was while the US economy was in sixth gear; now that it is running between the first and reverse gears we would not expect the trend to change. The price support that the US has been providing to oil markets is one of capacity disruptions not of demand growth. There is so far this year relatively little supply disruptions, and this is creating havoc in the gasoline to heating oil relationship."
The United Nations recently voted another set of sanctions on Iran. However, Jakob claimed, "The nature of the new sanctions is more a face-saving exercise than anything else. European powers have immediately said that they want to propose new incentives to Iran. Nobody will go to war over the new sanctions; it pushes the issue another 90 days forward and will continue to drag until a new US administration is in place."
Energy prices
The April contract for benchmark US crudes closed at $102.45/bbl Mar. 3 on NYMEX, up 61¢ for the day. The May contract gained 59¢ to $102.01/bbl. On the US spot market, West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Okla., was up 61¢ to $102.46/bbl. The April RBOB contract inched up 0.21¢ to $2.67/gal on NYMEX. Heating oil for the same month climbed 3.39¢ to $2.84/gal.
The April natural gas contract lost 2¢ to $9.35/MMbtu on NYMEX. On the US spot market, gas at Henry Hub, La., escalated by 8¢ to $9.20/MMbtu.
In London, the April IPE contract for North Sea Brent crude increased 38¢ to $100.48/bbl. The March gas oil contract jumped $22 to $937/tonne.
Contact Sam Fletcher at [email protected].


MARKET WATCH: Crude price nears $104/bbl - Oil & Gas Journal

[KID]

dont forget about the honey bees disapearing-- no bees=no polination

[Rattanaburi]

Well, we really are in interesting economic times. We haven't seen stuff like this for years. It's crazy. Should I start filling my closet with canned or perserved food? With rising prices more fish will be taken from the rivers to save on spending. People will also want to save on food spending to keep up with those motorcycle,car, or credit payments. It's all got to have some effect.

"The world is yours." We'll see if that statement really is true for most of us.

[Marmite the Dog]

It doesn't help that African countries rely on aid rather than trying to develop their own agriculture. In fact they seem hell bent on destroying their agriculture in places (Zimbabwe is the obvious example).

As I've said many times before, aid destroys and shouldn't be given unless there's a big disaster such as an earthquake.

[The Gentleman Scamp]

During a recent conversation with my father he told me the price of meat in UK is double what it was.

Life is truly awful for too many people, it is very vert sad - there should be enough food on the planet for no one to have to go hungry.

[everglaze]

^^^Life is truly awful for too many people, it is very vert sad - there should be enough food on the planet for no one to have to go hungry.

I agree.
Our family has always made food donations to charity, now living in los
won't change that.

[mellow]

You would think that in African countries, where weather is good to grow crops year round, people could have vegetable gardens. But guess not.

[Loombucket]

You would think that in African countries, where weather is good to grow crops year round, people could have vegetable gardens. But guess not.

That's true but, in many places, the soil is poor and there is not enough water to go around. In some cases it is a long journey to find water to drink.

There is no easy answer to this. There are too many people on the planet that want a bigger profit for the things they sell. I agree with MTD that food aid should only be given for a major dissaster but more should be done to help the farmers improve their lot. The only people able to do this, on a large scale, are Governments. Chareties like Live aid, Food Aid and Water Aid have been trying for years to do this but it takes time to collect the money. Time is running out for some. Reminds me of an old song by Rare Bird.

Now half the world, hates the other half,
And half the world, has all the food,
while half the world lies down and quietly starves
cos there's not enough love to go round.....

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Put's it all into perspective doesn't it.

On a daily basis millions spend the day simply trying to stay alive.

We moan about this, that and the other - fritter money on beer and birds and throw ourselves off a balcony when it all gets too much.

[Dalton]

As I've said many times before, aid destroys and shouldn't be given unless there's a big disaster such as an earthquake.

There have just been one close to Buri-Ram....I'm waiting...Funds can be send direct to me. PM for details...

[Hootad Binky]

Put's it all into perspective doesn't it.

On a daily basis millions spend the day simply trying to stay alive.

We moan about this, that and the other - fritter money on beer and birds and throw ourselves off a balcony when it all gets too much.

Too true!

You would think that in African countries, where weather is good to grow crops year round, people could have vegetable gardens. But guess not.

That's true but, in many places, the soil is poor and there is not enough water to go around. In some cases it is a long journey to find water to drink.

Add to that drought and climate change:

Water shortages could lead to violence

Published: Feb. 7, 2008 at 9:40 PM

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says that water shortages and climate change are resulting in a growing number of violent conflicts around the world.

Ban addressed the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday saying that trends in violent crises in Africa and other regions are increasingly over basic human needs like water or arable land, which is in short supply, the United Nations reported.

"I find this trend deeply worrying, especially because such shortages are only projected to grow in coming years," Ban said in a statement. "Water shortages are at the core of many of the U.N. millennium development goals, one of which is to reduce by half the number of people without safe access to water by 2015.

"When you consider the health and development challenges facing the poorest of the world's population -- diseases like malaria or tuberculosis, rising food prices, environmental degradation -- the common denominator often seems to be water."

Water shortages could lead to violence - UPI.com

[Fabian]

During a recent conversation with my father he told me the price of meat in UK is double what it was.

Really? Price of meat is about the same as it was ten or even 15 years ago here in Germany.

[English Noodles]

During a recent conversation with my father he told me the price of meat in UK is double what it was.

Really? Price of meat is about the same as it was ten or even 15 years ago here in Germany.

Maybe the price of beef is low but certainly not pork according to Pig Progress | For the Pig Breeding & Pig Production Industry | Home which is my personal choice when it comes to a portal on global pig production.

Noodles.

[Fabian]

English Noodles, last week's advertisement is saying, pork-schnitzel at 3.99 per kg, pork steak 4.99, that does not sound expensive to me.

[Hootad Binky]

my personal choice when it comes to a portal on global pig production

Or, your "personal pig production portal"

[KID]

During a recent conversation with my father he told me the price of meat in UK is double what it was.

Really? Price of meat is about the same as it was ten or even 15 years ago here in Germany.

Maybe the price of beef is low but certainly not pork according to Pig Progress | For the Pig Breeding & Pig Production Industry | Home which is my personal choice when it comes to a portal on global pig production.

Noodles.

pork is alot cheap than beef here in the states but chicken is the cheapest meat

[Hootad Binky]

Breakfast is more expensive: eggs, juice milk and cereal have all gone up in price, as well as the grain-fed meat...

[Panda]

Half the world is starving and the other half is a bunch of cholesterol ridden lard arses.
Developed countries employ about 1 to 3% of the population producing food while developing countries typically employ around 50% of the population in agriculture.

People in developed countries can eat well for around 10% of their income, while people in developing countries can spend between 50 and 100% of their income just on food.

There's a lot more to the food shortage debate than just a bad year for crops.

[Bugs]

As I've said many times before, aid destroys and shouldn't be given unless there's a big disaster such as an earthquake.

Indeed - perpetual aid only worsens the problem. There is some profound saying or another about giving a man a fish vs teaching him to fish - but I think the problem is also related to rabbits, or at least folks acting too much like rabbits.

[Panda]

As I've said many times before, aid destroys and shouldn't be given unless there's a big disaster such as an earthquake.

Indeed - perpetual aid only worsens the problem. There is some profound saying or another about giving a man a fish vs teaching him to fish - but I think the problem is also related to rabbits, or at least folks acting too much like rabbits.

True. But it depends on the kind of aid. Handing out food certainly isn't the answer and is generally only a last resort.
Things like education, building wells and irrigation systems, and teaching better farming practices are the way to go.

Unfortunately, in the agrarian societies of poor developing countries with little social infrastructure or support, producing big families is seen as a way of ensuring a supply of labour to work the farm and provide for the parents in their later years. Problem is that this cultural tradition (also practiced in the west until a few generations ago) doesn't work when population growth forces people onto marginal land with smaller plots. The same thing is happening in Thailand's north east at the moment.

[Bugs]

Indeed - perpetual aid only worsens the problem. There is some profound saying or another about giving a man a fish vs teaching him to fish - but I think the problem is also related to rabbits, or at least folks acting too much like rabbits.

True. But it depends on the kind of aid. Handing out food certainly isn't the answer and is generally only a last resort. Givin' da man a fish - dont' do it.


Things like education, building wells and irrigation systems, and teaching better farming practices are the way to go. Teachn' da man to fish - do it.

Unfortunately, in the agrarian societies of poor developing countries with little social infrastructure or support, producing big families is seen as a way of ensuring a supply of labour to work the farm and provide for the parents in their later years. Problem is that this cultural tradition (also practiced in the west until a few generations ago) doesn't work when population growth forces people onto marginal land with smaller plots. The same thing is happening in Thailand's north east at the moment.

Sure this makes sense if one has enough land to farm/ animals to herd. But what is the logic to adding numbers to an already starving family? Even in the west in most cases the logic fell apart because the marginal gains of adding another worker simply was not really there.

If the doomsday predictions in regard to global warming are correct things are only going to get worse - less arable land, less water, higher temps - Africa is farked.

[Redneck]

eat the poor

[Driventowin]

Indeed - perpetual aid only worsens the problem. There is some profound saying or another about giving a man a fish vs teaching him to fish - but I think the problem is also related to rabbits, or at least folks acting too much like rabbits.

True. But it depends on the kind of aid. Handing out food certainly isn't the answer and is generally only a last resort. Givin' da man a fish - dont' do it.


Things like education, building wells and irrigation systems, and teaching better farming practices are the way to go. Teachn' da man to fish - do it.

Unfortunately, in the agrarian societies of poor developing countries with little social infrastructure or support, producing big families is seen as a way of ensuring a supply of labour to work the farm and provide for the parents in their later years. Problem is that this cultural tradition (also practiced in the west until a few generations ago) doesn't work when population growth forces people onto marginal land with smaller plots. The same thing is happening in Thailand's north east at the moment.

Sure this makes sense if one has enough land to farm/ animals to herd. But what is the logic to adding numbers to an already starving family? Even in the west in most cases the logic fell apart because the marginal gains of adding another worker simply was not really there.

If the doomsday predictions in regard to global warming are correct things are only going to get worse - less arable land, less water, higher temps - Africa is farked.

Sorry to sound so dis-compassionate about this, but bottom line, it's natures balance..
It is a bit of a weakness (if you will) that man kind has compassion. Not necessarily in a bad way, but virtually every other animal/mammal has a balance in that the strong survive, but we as humans have to save every stray dog, cat, etc. even if they may know no better and have spent their entire lives on the street living like a wild animal and not a domesticated one that relies on us for their survival, they don't understand suffrage it's just what they've always known and have nothing to compare to, but we think they do..

Unfortunately these people are breeding themselves into extinction because they out produce their food sources, so I'm forced to agree with Marmite and the others..

On the bright side Africa has huge potential for agriculture if it is modernized and many countries there are beginning to recognize that like Nigeria which took on a lot of the farmers that fled Zimbabwe after their land was taken from them, and they have provided free land and bank loans to have productive, commercial farms put in place and their own people working them for education..

They are producing as much as 10 times per rai of land now over what they were before..With the world moving more towards biofuels which is also driving up the price of these crops considerably with competition for the resources since they (the farmers) can make more selling their crops for that now than they can for food..

The door is wide open for the big oil companies to come in and invest some of those massive profits they've earned lately in the agricultural infrastructure in many of these countries and begin to cultivate their new fuel reserves for the future while at the same time feeding much of these people, and much of the world.. Africa could become one big farm project with the amount of land available and lack of large cities, now's the time to make the move before that latter happens..

All that is required to solve those logistical issues such as water and the like, is money. And the big oil companies have plenty of that coming in every day the time is now for them to shift much of that over to this future..

[Scooter]

Read the other day that Cambodia has stopped all rice exports for the next two months because domestic stocks are so low.
I'm sure the population of Africa could do a lot more to help themselves if there weren't vested interests in cash crops diamonds oil many many minerals being extracted by private companies. Sure strange weather pattens don't help.