"The closely interlinked food, fuel and financial crises pose a significant new challenge to the global effort to reduce poverty. In short run, the oil-biofuels nexus was clearly the driving force behind the surge in food prices, but export restrictions and panic purchases turned a tightened market situation into a crisis. New evidence reveals that food prices rose sharply in many countries and that global poverty levels have increased markedly. The good news is that the supply response in many countries was strong. The impacts of the financial crisis on poor countries have yet to fully roll out, but it is clear that additional people will fall into poverty and become food insecure. In the long run, there are strong indications that the global food system is fundamentally changing in a number of dimensions. Biofuels are here to stay, and energy and food prices have adjusted to a higher equilibrium, albeit with large volatility. Trade protection has also resurfaced, but so too have renewed investments in the agricultural sector. These fundamental shifts bring with them opportunities and risks that require internationally coordinated responses with strong national buy-in, as well as timely and relevant research." from authors' abstract
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Paper provided by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in its series IFPRI discussion papers with number
889.
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Alberto Zezza & Benjamin Davis & Carlo Azzarri & Katia Covarrubias & Luca Tasciotti & Gustavo Anriquez, 2008.
"The Impact of Rising Food Prices on the Poor,"
Working Papers
08-07, Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - ESA).
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