United Nations Says Millions at Risk From Soaring Food Prices
By Stuart Biggs
April 4 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations World Food Programme may be forced to cut food supplies in May to places like Darfur after soaring prices left the organization with a $500 million cash shortage.
The organization, which relies on donations, must decide how to scale back plans to feed 73 million people unless it can secure extra funds by May 1, John Powell, deputy director of the organization's external affairs and resource development department, said at a press conference in Tokyo today.
``In the absence of additional funding it means less people will be fed or the same people will be fed less -- and you're already talking about some of the poorest people in the world,'' Powell said. ``Cutting back food will have a disastrous effect on these people's future productivity, health and livelihoods.''
Powell said a combination of rising fuel prices, increased demand in China and India, climate change and global demand for biofuels are causing food prices to soar. The organization's problems in sourcing food are exacerbated when countries impose purchasing restrictions and export bans on food, he said.
``In the short-term we are looking for funding to prevent a humanitarian crisis,'' Powell said. ``In the long-run we will all be better off if agricultural markets are opened and tariffs and other barriers are removed.''
Rising food costs are putting millions of the world's poorest people at risk of starvation as aid programs are unable to buy and distribute enough food. World Bank President Robert Zoellick this week called for a ``New Deal'' to end global hunger and for nations to open markets to agricultural products from developing countries to encourage food production.
Record high grain prices have contributed to strikes in Argentina, riots in Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Morocco and the Ivory Coast, and a crackdown on illicit exports in Pakistan. Rice, the staple food for about 3 billion people, climbed 42 percent in the first quarter, more than all of last year's 33 percent gain.
Appeal
The World Food Programme appealed to the governments of 20 industrialized countries last month to secure extra funds. So far only Spain has responded, pledging $7 million, Powell said.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told reporters today the government had no plans to increase donations as the nation's aid budget for the year has already been decided.
``Riots will happen in Darfur if we run out of food,'' said Kenro Oshidari, head of WFP Sudan, the program's largest operation. The organization feeds 2 million people living in camps in Darfur with no alternative access to food, he said.
China, India and Vietnam have cut rice exports, and Indonesia has reduced import tariffs to protect food supplies and cool inflation. Industrialized countries including Japan, the U.S. and the European Union maintain expensive subsidies and import restrictions to protect domestic farmers from foreign competition.
Global rice production will rise to a record 422.9 million metric tons this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on March 11. Consumption may increase to 422.5 million tons, also the most-ever, leaving 75.2 million tons stored globally at the end of the year, the USDA said.
Global economic expansion and rising biofuel production are boosting demand for commodities and more investment is needed to ensure food supplies, World Bank Managing Director Juan Jose Daboub said in an interview yesterday in Danang, Vietnam.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at sbiggs3@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 4, 2008 05:12 EDT
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