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Rising food prices: What should be done?

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Author Info

  • von Braun, Joachim

Abstract

"The sharp increase in food prices over the past couple of years has raised serious concerns about the food and nutrition situation of poor people in developing countries, about inflation, and—in some countries—about civil unrest. Real prices are still below their mid-1970s peak, but they have reached their highest point since that time. Both developing- and developed-country governments have roles to play in bringing prices under control and in helping poor people cope with higher food bills. In 2007 the food price index calculated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) rose by nearly 40 percent, compared with 9 percent the year before, and in the first months of 2008 prices again increased drastically. Nearly every agricultural commodity is part of this rising price trend. Since 2000—a year of low prices—the wheat price in the international market has more than tripled and maize prices have more than doubled. The price of rice jumped to unprecedented levels in March 2008. Dairy products, meat, poultry, palm oil, and cassava have also experienced price hikes. When adjusted for inflation and the dollar's decline (by reporting in euros, for example), food price increases are smaller but still dramatic, with often serious consequences for the purchasing power of the poor. National governments and international actors are taking various steps to try to minimize the effects of higher international prices for domestic prices and to mitigate impacts on particular groups. Some of these actions are likely to help stabilize and reduce food prices, whereas others may help certain groups at the expense of others or actually make food prices more volatile in the long run and seriously distort trade. What is needed is more effective and coherent action to help the most vulnerable populations cope with the drastic and immediate hikes in their food bills and to help farmers meet the rising demand for agricultural products." from Author's text

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in its series Policy briefs with number 1.

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Date of creation: 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:fpr:polbrf:1

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Related research

Keywords: Food prices; Food supply; Food demand; Social protection; Agricultural research; Agricultural policy; Agricultural subsidies;

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Nora Lustig, 2009. "Coping with Rising Food Prices: Policy Dilemmas in the Developing World," Working Papers 2009-04, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
  2. Abbott, Philip C. & Hurt, Christopher & Tyner, Wallace E., 2008. "What's Driving Food Prices?," Issue Reports 37951, Farm Foundation.
  3. Headey, Derek & Fan, Shenggen, 2008. "Anatomy of a crisis: The causes and consequences of surging food prices," IFPRI discussion papers 831, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  4. Pavel Ciaian & d’Artis Kancs, 2011. "The Impact Of Food Price Shock On Heterogeneous Credit Constrained Firms," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 82(2), pages 115-137, 06.
  5. Christophe Gouel & Sébastien Jean, 2012. "Optimal Food Price Stabilization in a Small Open Developing Country," Working Papers 2012-01, CEPII research center.
  6. Sushil Pandey & Author-Name: Timothy Sulser & Mark W. Rosegrant & Humnath Bhandari, 2010. "Rice Price Crisis: Causes, Impacts, and Solutions," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, vol. 7(2), pages 1-15, December.
  7. Cristian - Marian Barbu, 2011. "The Romanian Agriculture - Between Myth And Reality," Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, Faculty of Sciences, "1 Decembrie 1918" University, Alba Iulia, vol. 2(13), pages 30.
  8. de Brauw, Alan, 2011. "Migration and child development during the food price crisis in El Salvador," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 28-40, February.
  9. Patrick Webb, 2008. "More Food, But Not Yet Enough: 20th Century Successes in Agriculture Growth and 21st Century Challenges," Working Papers in Food Policy and Nutrition 38, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
  10. Diao, Xinshen & Fan, Shenggen & Headey, Derek & Johnson, Michael & Nin Pratt, Alejandro & Yu, Bingxin, 2008. "Accelerating Africa's food production in response to rising food prices: Impacts and requisite actions," IFPRI discussion papers 825, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  11. Alom, Fardous, 2011. "Economic Effects of Oil and Food Price Shocks in Asia and Pacific Countries: An Application of SVAR Model," 2011 Conference, August 25-26, 2011, Nelson, New Zealand 115346, New Zealand Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
  12. "Edward" Yu, Tun-Hsiang & Tokgoz, Simla & Wailes, Eric & Chavez, Eddie, 2011. "A quantitative analysis of trade policy responses to higher world agricultural commodity prices," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 545-561, October.
  13. Ingo Outes-Leon & Catherine Porter & Alan Sanchez, 2011. "Early Nutrition and Cognition in Peru," Research Department Publications 4743, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
  14. Outes, Ingo & Porter, Catherine & Sanchez, Alan & Escobal, Javier, 2011. "Early Nutrition and Cognition in Peru: A Within-Sibling Investigation," Working Papers 2011-017, Banco Central de Reserva del Perú.
  15. Annim, Samuel Kobina & Dasmani, Isaac & Armah, Mark, 2011. "Does Access and Use OF Financial Service Smoothen Household Food Consumption?," MPRA Paper 29278, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  16. Verpoorten, Marijke & Arora, Abhimanyu, 2011. "Food Prices, Social Unrest and the Facebook Generation," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114230, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
  17. Nazlioglu, Saban, 2011. "World oil and agricultural commodity prices: Evidence from nonlinear causality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2935-2943, May.
  18. Hochman, Gal & Rajagopal, Deepak & Timilsina, Govinda & Zilberman, David, 2011. "The role of inventory adjustments in quantifying factors causing food price inflation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5744, The World Bank.

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