Will there be food shortages in the next decade?

[forfismum]

Originally Posted by thomasz

Food shortages, I think so!

Why ?

[Cricket Tragic]

Rice and Baloney
Irrational Policies the World Over Are Making the Food Crisis Worse

washingtonpost.com

In short, the governments of the world are conspiring to undermine farming in developing countries. Do they mean to inflict hunger on tens of millions of people?

[Cricket Tragic]

An alternative view.

Unfortunately not all the article is available without a subscription. I will post a free link once one becomes available.


The truth about food
Rises in world food prices may hurt city-dwellers, but they do not increase global hunger

Opinions: 'The truth about food' by Robert Paarlberg | Prospect Magazine June 2008 issue 147

Yet it is a mistake to see high prices as a proxy for actual hunger. Most of the world's hungry citizens do not get their food from the world market, and most who rely on the world market are not poor or vulnerable to hunger.

[screener]

Interesting point of view, if the poor do not get their food from the world market, they perhaps have some other source?

[forfismum]

Originally Posted by screener

Interesting point of view, if the poor do not get their food from the world market, they perhaps have some other source?

The countries of sub-Saharan Africa take only 16 per cent of their total grain consumption from the world market, and less than 10 per cent of total calorie consumption

so I guess they shop local as per the advice given by many in this very forum?

The devastating part of that 16% is that it has to be paid for in cash by impoverished nations and the further south you go the more corruption you meet so I guess that 16% grows almost by the mile.
AS regards the red herring of Gm's, if Europe is not happy to allow a monopoly to be created in the seed market them so be it.To say that African nations are scred of being blocked from Europe is another load of bollox.If they can't produce food by normal means due to war and corruption I would love someone to explain to me how they will fare better with Gm's.Africa has far better,more productive,and less troublesome food plants than any other continent yet folks want to sell them magic beans.O God. I wonder if August has a spare room.

[Cricket Tragic]

Originally Posted by screener

Interesting point of view, if the poor do not get their food from the world market, they perhaps have some other source?

Put simply, many of the poorer countries of the World rely largely on subsistence farming. These countries do not get much of their food from the World market. The countries in trouble are those where population growth has significantly outstripped their ability to produce food. Countries like Haiti for example. Another issue that arises in many of the poorest countries is that infrastructure is so poor that importing food is an ineffective means of feeding the population. The food simply cannot get to the people that need. Corruption is also a major issue in these countries and impacts on food security – usually through the media of land alienation and poor infrastructure management. Corruption occurs in rich countries as well, but poor countries have such a lower ability to counter corruption that it does far more damage there.

[sparky]

A UN summit opens in Rome aimed at targeting global food prices that have soared to 30-year highs.

BBC NEWS | World | Summit targets global food crisis

[forfismum]

And they have allow Mugabe in,what bloody hypocrisy.How much food did Zimbabwe produce before this clown got his hands on it?

[sparky]

Quite. Be nice if they put aside a bit of money for contraception too.

[forfismum]

Naw he's too old for that carry on