news & events
Global food crisis
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The average UK family now spends 20% more on its weekly shopping than in 2007 and 4.5% more on a litre of unleaded petrol than a month ago. Many of us are already feeling the pinch of global price rises. But those living in the world's poorest communities have been hit the hardest. They spend a much higher proportion of their income on food – between 50 and 80% - compared to the average British person, who spends about 10%.
Worldwide, many of the poorest people are struggling to afford basic staples like wheat and rice – the price of wheat has risen by 120% in the past year and rice prices are at a ten-year high. |
 A protester bangs an empty pot during a street rally in Manila. The protester blamed the government for the recent rise in food prices. Photo: REUTERS/Howard Burditt courtesy of www.alertnet.org |
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Every night, 850 million people go to bed hungry, and 4 million new people are suffering from chronic hunger each year. It is feared that an additional 100 million people could go hungry as a result of the current food crisis. There have already been riots in 37 countries, with people protesting against high food and fuel prices.
There are many reasons for the global food crisis, including increasing oil and energy prices which are pushing up the cost of producing food, natural disasters, environmental degradation, people hoarding food and more arable land being used for biofuels instead of for crop production. The result has been dwindling food supplies and rapidly increasing prices as demand increases for fewer and fewer items.
MRDF's partners are also feeling the effects. In Bangladesh, the cost of rice has risen by over 40% in the last three months, making it increasingly difficult for our partner to meet the nutritional requirements of the 3,000 street-children it supports. Reports from MRDF's partner in Andhra Pradesh, India, are that farmers are struggling to purchase seeds for setting up seed banks and cannot afford grain from private traders at the current prices. A recent drought has compounded the situation, asfarmers were not able to save enough produce to last thema year.
Menka Jha, MRDF's Asia Programme Officer, said: 'Within developing countries like India and Bangladesh, where a large proportion of the population is malnourished, such price rises could mean a reversal of the hard-earned health and economic gains of the past. Tackling the food crisis should be a priority, and there is an urgent need to encourage farming through new policies and initiatives.'
In response to this developing crisis, MRDF is looking at ways of increasing food security across all the communities that it works with, particularly through providing agricultural training and credit schemes. In India, our partner has been working with farmers, encouraging the use of indigenous techniques to enhance soil fertility. In Cameroon, MRDF's support enables young farmers to learn new farming methods and skills that help them to use the land in a sustainable way. A micro-credit scheme also gives villagers the opportunity to purchase equipment that could improve their yields and farmland.
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